-I''    '■ 


AK 


it1>' 


SUNNY  MEMOEIES 


OF 


FOREIGN    LANDS. 


BY 


MRS.  HARRIET   BEE  CHER   STOWE, 

AUTHOR    OF    "  UXCLE   TOM'S    CABIX,"    ETC. 


"  "WTien  thou  haply  seest 

Some  rare  note-worthy  object  in  thy  travels, 
Make  me  partaker  of  thy  happiness." 

SUAKSPEAItE. 


ILLUSTRATED    FROM    DESIGNS    BY    IIAMMATT    BILLINGS, 

IN    TWO    VOLUMES. 
VOL.   L 


BOSTON: 
PHILLIPS,    SAMPSON,    AND    COMPANY. 

NEW   YORK:    J.    C.    DERBY. 
1  8f»4. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  tlie  year  1854,  by 

Phillips,  Sampson,  and  Company, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


HTKKE  OTTPKD    AT     THl 
linSTON     STKKEOTrPK     FOUNDRT. 

wnifaiT  AM)  iiAsTv,  miNTris,  no.  li  wati;r  st. 


PREFACE. 


This  book  will  be  found  to  be  truly  what  its  name  de- 
notes, ''  Sunny  Memories." 

If  the  criticism  be  made  that  every  thing  is  given  couleur 
de  rose,  the  answer  is,  Why  not  ?  They  are  the  impressions, 
as  they  arose,  of  a  most  agreeable  visit.  How  could  they  be 
otherwise? 

If  there  be  characters  and  scenes  that  seem  drawn  with  too 
bright  a  pencil,  the  reader  will  consider  that,  after  all,  there 
are  many  worse  sins  than  a  disposition  to  think  and  speak 
well  of  one's  neighbors.  To  admire  and  to  love  may  now 
and  then  be  tolerated,  as  a  variety,  as  well  as  to  carp  and 
criticize.  America  and  England  have  heretofore  abounded 
towards  each  other  in  illiberal  criticisms.  There  is  not  an 
unfavorable  aspect  of  things  in  the  old  world  which  has 
not  become  perfectly  familiar  to  us;  and  a  little  of  the 
other  side  may  have  a  useful  influence. 

The  writer  has  been  decided  to  issue  these  letters  prin- 
cipally, however,  by  the  persevering  and  deliberate  attempts, 


IV  PRE  FACE. 

in  certain  quarters,  to  misrepresent  the  circumstances  Avliich 
are  liere  given.  So  long  as  these  misrejiresentations  affected 
only  tliosi.'  wlio  were  ])n'(l(.'tcnuined  to  believe  unfavorably, 
tliey  wore  not  regarded.  But  as  they  have  had  some  influ- 
ence, in  certain  cases,  upon  really  excellent  and  honest  people, 
it  is   desirable  that   tlie   trutli  should  be  plainly  told. 

The  object  of  publishing  these  letters  is,  therefore,  to  give 
to  those  Avho  are  true-hearted  and  honest  the  same  agree- 
able picture  of  life  and  manners  which  met  the  writer's  own 
eyes.  She  had  in  view  a  wide  circle  of  friends  throughout 
her  own  country,  between  whose  hearts  and  her  own  there 
has  been  an  acquaintance  and  sympathy  of  years,  and  who, 
loving  excellence,  and  feeling  the  reality  of  it  in  them- 
selves, are  sincerely  pleased  to  have  their  sphere  of  hope- 
fulness and  charity  enlarged.  For  such  this  is  written  ;  and 
if  those  who  are  not  such  begin  to  read,  let  them  treat  the 
book  as  a  letter  not  addressed  to  them,  which,  having  opened 
by  mistake,  they  close  and  pass  to  tlie  true  owner. 

The  Engli>h  reader  is  requested  to  bear  in  mind  that 
tlie  book  has  not  been  prepared  in  reference  to  an  Eng- 
lish but  an  American  public,  and  to  make  due  allowance 
for  tliat  fact.  It  would  liave  placed  the  writer  far  more 
at  case  had  there  been  no  prospect  of  publication  in  Eng- 
land. As  this,  however,  was  unavoidable,  in  some  form,  the 
writer  has  chosen  to  issue  it  there  under  her  own  sanction. 


PREFACE.  T 

There  is  one  acknowledgment  which  the  author  feek 
happy  to  make,  and  that  is,  to  those  publishers  in  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  France,  and  Germany  who  liave  shown  a  hb- 
erality  beyond  the  requirements  of  legal  obligation.  The 
author  hopes  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  Amer- 
ica will  reciprocate  the  liberality  of  other  nations  by  grant- 
ing to  foreign  authors  those  rights  which  her  own  receive 
from  them. 

The  Journal  which  appears  in  the  continental  tour  is  from 
the  pen  of  the  Rev.  C.  Beecher.  The  Letters  were,  for  the 
most  part,  compiled  from  what  was  written  at  the  time  and  on 
the  spot.  Some  few  were  entirely  written  after  the  author's 
return. 

It  is  an  affecting  thought  that  several  of  the  persons  who 
appear  in  these  letters  as  among  the  living,  have  now  passed 
to  the  great  future.  The  Earl  of  Warwick,  Lord  Cockburn, 
Judge  Talfourd,  and  Dr.  Wardlaw  are  no  more  among  the 
ways  of  men.  Thus,  while  we  read,  while  we  write,  the 
shadowy  procession  is  passing ;  the  good  are  being  gathered 
into   life,  and  heaven   enriched  by  the    garnered   treasures 

"•^  ^"*-  H.  B,   S 


CONTENTS 


OP 


THE    FIRST    VOLUME, 


Page 
INTRODUCTORY xi.-lxv. 

LETTER   I. 
The  Voyage 1-13 

LETTER   II. 

Liverpool. —  The  Dingle.  — A  Ragged  School.  — Flowers.  —  Speke  Hall. 
—  Antislavery  Meeting.       .  14-40 

LETTER   in. 
Lancashire.  —  Carlisle.  —  Gretna  Green.  —  Glasgow.    .        .        .        41-51 

LETTER   IV. 

The  Baillie.  —  The  Cathedral.  —  Dr.  "Wardlaw.  —  A  Tea  Party— Both- 
well  Castle.  —  Chivalry.  —  Scott  and  Burns 62-70 

LETTER   V. 

Dumbarton  Castle.  —  Duke  of  Argyle.  —  Linlithgow.  —  Edinburgh.   71-81 

(vii) 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

LETTER   VI. 

Public  Soin-c  — Dr.  Guthrie. —  Craigmillcr  Castle.  —  Bass  Hock.  — Ban- 
nockburn.  —  Stirling.  —  Glamis  Castle.  —  Barclay  of  Ury.  —  The  Dee. 
—  Aberdeen.  —  The  Cathedral.  —  Brig  o' Balgounie.    .        .  82-106 


LETTER   VII. 

Letter  from  a  Scotch  Bachelor.  —  Reformatory  Schools  of  Aberdeen.  — 
Dundee.  —  Dr.  Dick.  —  The  Queen  in  Scotland.  .         .         .         107-127 


LETTER  VIIL 
Meh-osc.— Dryburgh.  —  Abbotsford 128-168 

LETTER  IX. 

Douglas   of  Caver.  —  Temperance  Soiree.  —  Calls.  —  Lord  Gainsborough. 

—  Sir  "William  Hamilton.  —  George  Combe.  —  Visit  to   Hawthornden. 

—  Hoslin  Castle.  —  The  Quakers.  — Hervcy's  Studio.  —  Grass  Market. 

—  Grayfriars'  Churchyard 169-190 

LETTER  X. 
Bumiingham.  —  Stratford  on  Avon 191-223 

LETTER  XL 
Warwick.  —  Kenilworth. 224-246 

LETTER  XIL 
Birmingham.  —  Sybil  Jones.  —  J.  A.  James 247-257 

LETTER  XIIL 
London.  - —  Lord  Mayor's  Dinner 258-267 

LETTER   XIV. 

London.  —  Dinner  with  Earl  of  Carlisle.     .....         268-275 


CONTENTS.  jSC 

LETTER  XV. 

London.  —  Anniversary  of  Bible   Society.  —  Dulwich   Gallery.  —  Dinner 
with  Mr.  E.  Cropper.  —  Soiree  at  Rev.  Mr.  Binney's.    .        .        276-286 

LETTER  XVL 

Reception  at  Stafford  House 287-300 

t 

LETTER  XVII. 
The  Sutherland  Estate 301-313 

LETTER   XVIIL 

Baptist  Noel.  —  Borough  School.  —  Rogers  the  Poet.  —  Stafford  House.  — 
EUesmere  Collection  of  Paintings.  —  Lord  John  Russell.    .        314-326 

VOL.   I.  h 


INTRODUCTORY. 


The  following  letters  were  written  by  Mrs.  Stowe  for  licr 
own  personal  friends,  particularly  the  members  of  her  own 
family,  and  mainly  as  the  transactions  referred  to  in  them 
occurred.  During  the  tour  in  England  and  Scotland,  frequent 
allusions  are  made  to  public  meetings  held  on  her  account ; 
but  no  report  is  made  of  the  meetings,  because  that  informa- 
tion was  given  fully  in  the  newspapers  sent  to  her  friends 
with  the  letters.  Some  knowledge  of  the  general  tone  and 
spirit  of  the  meetings  seems  necessary,  in  order  to  put  the 
readers  of  the  letters  in  as  favorable  a  position  to  appreciate 
them  as  her  friends  were  when  they  were  received.  Such 
knowledge  it  is  the  object  of  this  introductory  chapter  to 
furnish. 

One  or  two  of  the  addresses  at  each  of  several  meetings 
I  have  given,  and  generally  without  alteration,  as  they  ap- 
peared in  the  public  journals  at  the  time.  Only  a  Yerj  few 
could  be  published  without  occupying  altogether  too  much 
space ;  and  those  selected  are  for  the  most  part  the  shortest, 
and  chosen  mainly  on  account  of  their  brevity.    This  is  cer- 

(xi) 


XU  INTRODUCTORY. 

tainly  a  surer  method  of  giving  a  true  idea  of  the  spirit  which 
actually  pervaded  the  meetings  than  could  be  accomplished  by 
any  selection  of  mere  extracts  from  the  several  speeches.  In 
that  case,  there  might  be  supposed  to  exist  a  temptation  to 
garble  and  make  unfair  representations ;  but  in  the  method 
pursued,  such  a  suspicion  is  scarcely  possible.  In  relation  to 
my  own  addresses,  I  have  sometimes  taken  the  liberty  to  cor- 
rect the  reporters  by  my  own  recollections  and  notes.  I  have 
also,  in  some  cases,  somewhat  abridged  them,  (a  liberty 
which  I  have  not,  to  any  considerable  extent,  ventured  to  take 
with  others,)  though  without  changing  the  sentiment,  or  even 
essentially  the  form,  of  expression.  "What  I  have  here  related 
is  substantially  what  I  actually  said,  and  what  I  am  willing  to 
be  held  responsible  for.  Many  and  bitter,  during  the  tour, 
were  the  misrepresentations  and  misstatements  of  a  hostile 
press  ;  to  which  I  offer  no  other  reply  than  the  plain  facts  of 
the  following  pages.  These  were  the  sentiments  uttered,  this 
was  the  manner  of  their  utterance  ;  and  I  cheerfully  submit 
them  to  the  judgment  of  a  candid  pubhc. 

I  went  to  Europe  without  the  least  anticipation  of  the  kind 
of  reception  which  awaited  us ;  it  was  all  a  surprise  and  an 
embarrassment  to  me.  I  went  with  the  strongest  love  of  my 
country,  and  the  highest  veneration  for  her  institutions ;  I 
every  where  in  Britain  found  the  most  cordial  sympathy  with 
this  love  and  veneration ;  and  I  returned  with  both  greatly 
increased.  But  slavery  I  do  not  recognize  as  an  institution  of 
my  country  ;  it  is  an  excrescence,  a  vile  usurpation,  hated  of 
God,  and  abhorred  by  man  ;  I  am  under  no  obligation  either 
to  love  or  respect  it.  lie  is  the  traitor  to  America,  and 
American  institutions,  who  reckons  slavery  as  one  of  them, 
and,  as  such,  screens  it  from  assault.     Slavery  is  a  bhght,  a 


INTRODUCTORY.  XIU 

canker,  a  poison,  in  the  very  heart  of  our  republic ;  and  unless 
the  nation,  as  such,  disengage  itself  from  it,  it  will  most  as- 
suredly be  our  ruin.  The  patriot,  the  philanthropist,  the 
Christian,  truly  enlightened,  sees  no  other  alternative.  The 
developments  of  the  present  session  of  our  national  Congress 
are  making  {his  great  truth  clearly  perceptible  even  to  the 
dullest  apprehension. 

C.  E.  STOWE. 

And  OVER,  May  30,  1854. 


BREAKFAST   IN   LIVEKPOOL  — April  11. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  M'Xeile,  wlio  liad  hecn  requested  by  tlio  respected  host  to  express 
to  Mrs.  Stowo  the  liearty  congrntul.itions  of  the  first  meeting  of  friejids  the  had  seen 
in  England,  thus  addressed  her:  "  Mrs,  Stuwe :  I  have  been  requested  by  those  kind 
friends  under  whose  hospitable  roof  we  are  assembled  to  give  some  expression  to  the 
sincere  and  cordial  welronie  with  which  we  greet  your  arrival  in  this  country.  I  find 
real  difficulty  in  making  this  attempt,  not  from  want  of  matter,  nor  from  want  of  feel- 
ing, but  because  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  any  language  I  can  command  to  give 
adequate  exprcFsion  t>)  the  afl^ectionaic  enthusiasm  which  pervades  all  ranks  of  our 
community,  and  which  is  truly  characteristic  of  the  humanity  and  the  Christianity 
of  Great  Britain.  We  welcome  Mrs.  Stowe  as  the  honored  instrument  of  that  noble 
impuUe  winch  piblic  opinion  and  public  feeling  throughnut  Christendom  have  received 
again&t  the  demoralizing  and  degrading  system  of  human  slavery.  That  system  is 
still,  unhappily,  identified  in  the  minds  of  many  with  the  supposed  material  int^eets 
of  society,  and  even  with  the  well  being  of  the  slaves  themselves  ;  but  the  plausible 
arguments  and  ingenious  sophistries  by  which  it  has  been  defended  shrink  withshamo 
from  the  facts  without  exaggeration,  the  principles  without  compromise,  the  exposures 
without  indelicacy,  and  the  irrepressible  glow  of  hearty  feeling — O,  how  true  to 
nature  1 —  which  characterize  .Mrs.  Stowe's  immortal  book.  Yet  I  feel  assured  that 
the  effect  produced  by  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  is  not  mainly  or  chiefly  to  be  traced  to 
the  interest  of  the  narrative,  however  cajJtivatiiig,  nor  to  the  exposures  of  the  slave 
system,  however  withering:  these  would,  indeed,  be  suflicient  to  produce  a  good 
effect ;  but  this  book  contains  more  and  better  than  even  these  j  it  contains  what  will 
never  be  lost  sight  of — the  genuine  application  to  the  several  branches  of  the  subject 
of  the  sacred  word  of  God.  By  no  part  of  this  wonderful  work  has  my  own  mind 
been  so  permanently  impressed  as  by  the  thorough  legitimacy  of  the  application  of 
Scripture,  —  no  wresting,  no  mere  verbal  adaptation,  but  in  evcrj'  instance  the  pas- 
sage cited  is  made  to  illustrate  something  in  the  narrative,  or  in  the  development  of 
.character,  in  strictest  accordance  with  the  design  of  the  passage  in  its  original  sacred 
context.  We  welcome  Mrs.  Stowe,  then,  as  an  honored  fellow-laborer  in  the  highest 
hnd  best  of  causes ;  and  I  am  much  mistaken  if  this  tone  of  welcome  be  not  by  far  the 
mo.-t  congenial  to  her  own  feeling?.  We  unaffectedly  sympathize  with  much  which 
she  must  feel,  and,  as  a  lady,  more  peculiarly  feel,  in  passing  through  that  ordeal  of 
gratiilation  wliich  is  sure  to  attend  her  steps  in  every  part  of  our  country  ;  and  I  am 
persuaded  that  we  cannot  manifest  our  gratitude  for  her  past  services  in  any  way 
more  accei)table  to  herself  than  by  earnest  prayer  on  her  behalf  that  she  may  be  kept 
in  the  simplicity  of  Christ,  enjoying  in  her  daily  experience  the  tender  consolations 

(xiv) 


INTRODUCTORY.  XV 

of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  most  flattering  commendations  saying  and 
feeling,  in  the  instincts  of  a  renewed  heart, '  Not  unto  me,  O  Lord,  not  unto  me,  but 
unto  tliy  name  be  the  praise,  for  tliy  mercy,  and  for  thy  truth's  sake.'  " 

Pbofessor  Stowe  then  rose,  and  said,  "  If  we  are  silent,  it  is  not  because  we  do  not 
feel,  but  because  we  feel  more  than  we  can  express.  When  that  book  was  written, 
we  had  no  hope  except  in  God.  We  had  no  expectation  of  reward  save  in  the  prayers 
of  the  poor.  The  surprising  enthusiasm  which  has  been  excited  by  the  book  all  over 
Christendom  is  an  indication  that  God  has  a  work  to  be  done  in  the  cause  of  emanci- 
pation. The  present  aspect  of  things  in  the  United  States  is  discouraging.  Every 
change  in  society,  every  financial  revolution,  every  political  and  ecclesiastical  move- 
ment, seems  to  pass  and  leave  the  African  race  without  help.  Our  only  resource  is 
prayer.  God  surely  cannot  will  that  the  unhappy  condition  of  this  portion  of  liis  chil- 
dren should  continue  forever.  There  are  some  indications  of  a  movement  in  the 
southern  mind.  A  leading  southern  paper  lately  declared  editorially  that  slavery  ia 
either  right  or  wrong:  if  it  is  wrong,  it  is  to  be  abandoned  :  if  it  is  right,  it  must  bo 
defended.  The  Southern  Press,  a  paper  established  to  defend  the  slavery  interest  at 
the  seat  of  government,  has  proposed  that  the  worst  features  of  the  system,  such  as  the 
separation  of  families,  should  be  abandoned.  But  it  is  evident  that  with  that  restric- 
tion the  system  could  not  exist.  For  instance,  a  man  wants  to  buy  a  cook  ;  but  she 
has  a  husband  and  seven  children.  Now,  is  he  to  buy  a  man  and  seven  children,  for 
whom  he  has  no  use,  for  the  sake  of  having  a  cook  .'  Nothing  on  the  present  occasion 
has  been  so  grateful  to  our  feelings  as  the  reference  made  by  Dr.  M'Neile  to  the 
Christian  character  of  the  book.  Incredible  as  it  may  seem  to  those  who  are  without 
prejudice,  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  this  book  was  condemned  by  some  religious 
nev.'spapers  in  the  United  States  as  anti-Christian,  and  its  author  associated  with 
infidels  and  disorganizers ;  and  had  not  it  been  for  the  decided  expression  of  the  mind 
of  English  Christians,  and  of  Christendom  itself,  on  this  point,  there  is  reason  to  fear 
that  the  proslavery  power  of  the  United  States  would  have  succeeded  in  putting  the 
book  under  foot.  Therefore  it  is  peculiarly  gratifying  that  so  full  an  indorsement  has 
been  given  the  work,  in  this  respect,  by  eminent  Christians  of  the  highest  character 
in  Europe  j  for,  however  some  in  the  United  States  may  affect  to  despise  what  ia 
said  by  the  wise  and  good  of  this  kingdom  and  the  Christian  world,  they  do  feel  it, 
and  feel  it  intensely."  In  answer  to  an  inquiry  by  Dr.  M'Xeile  as  to  the  mode  in 
which  southern  Christians  defended  the  institution.  Dr.  Stowe  remarked  that "  a  great 
change  had  taken  place  in  that  respect  during  the  last  thirty  years.  Formerly  all 
Christians  united  in  condemning  the  sj'stem  ;  but  of  late  some  have  begun  to  defend 
it  on  scriptural  grounds.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Smylic,  of  Mississippi,  wrote  a  pamplilet  in 
the  defensive  ;  and  Professor  Thornwell,  of  South  Carolina,  has  published  the  most 
candid  and  able  statement  of  that  argument  which  has  been  given.  Their  main  reli- 
ance is  on  the  system  of  Mosaic  servitude,  wholly  unlike  thougli  it  was  to  the  Ameri- 
can system  of  slavery.    As  to  what  this  American   system  of  slavery  is,  the  best 


XVI  INTKODL'CTOUT. 

documents  for  enlightening  the  minds  of  British  Chri.-tians  arc  the  commercial  news- 
papers of  the  slaveholdiiig  states.  There  you  see  slavery  as  it  is,  and  certainly 
without  any  exaggeration.  Read  the  advertisements  for  the  sale  of  slaves  and  for 
the  apprehension  of  fugitives,  the  dcscri|)tioiis  of  the  persons  of  slaves,  of  dogs  for 
hunting  slaves,  &:c.,  and  you  see  how  the  whole  matter  is  viewed  by  the  soutliern 
mind.  Say  what  they  will  about  it,  practically  they  generally  regard  the  separation 
of  families  no  more  than  the  separation  of  cattle,  and  the  slaves  as  so  much  property, 
and  nothing  else.  TJieir  own  papers  show  thai  the  pictures  of  the  internal  slave 
trade  given  in  Uncle  Tom,  so  far  from  being  overdrawn,  fall  even  below  the  truth. 
Go  on,  then,  in  forming  and  expressing  your  views  on  this  subject.  In  laboring  for 
the  overthrow  of  American  shivery  you  are  pursuing  a  course  of  Christian  duty  as 
legitimate  as  in  laboring  to  suppress  the  suttees  of  India,  the  cannibalism  of  the 
Fejee  Islands,  and  other  barbarities  of  heathenism,  of  which  human  slavery  is  but  a 
relic.  These  evils  can  bo  finally  removed  by  the  benign  influence  of  the  love  of 
Christ,  and  no  other  power  is  competent  to  the  work." 


PUBLIC   MEETING   IN   LIVERPOOL  — April  13. 

The  Chairman,  (A.  Hodgson,  Esq.,)  in  opening  the  proceedings,  thus  addressed 
Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe  :  "The  modesty  of  our  English  ladies,  which,  like  your  own, 
shrinks  instinctively  from  unnecessary  publicity,  has  devolved  on  me,  as  one  of  the 
trustees  of  the  Liverpool  Association,  the  gratifying  office  of  tendering  to  you,  at  their 
request,  a  slight  testimonial  of  their  gratitude  and  respect.  Wc  had  hoped  almost  to 
the  la-st  moment  that  Mrs.  Cropper  would  have  represented,  on  this  day,  the  ladies 
with  whom  she  has  cooperated,  and  among  whom  she  has  taken  a  distinguislied  lead 
in  the  great  work  which  you  had  the  honor  and  the  happiness  to  originate.  But  she 
lias  felt  with  you  that  the  path  most  grateful  and  most  congenial  to  female  exertion, 
even  in  its  widest  and  most  elevated  range,  is  still  a  retired  and  a  shady  path  ;  and 
you  have  taught  us  that  the  voice  which  most  effectually  kindles  enthusiasm  in  mil- 
lions is  the  still  small  voice  which  comes  forth  from  the  sanctuary  of  a  woman's 
breast,  and  from  the  retirement  of  a  woman's  closet  —  the  simple  but  unequivocal 
expression  of  her  unfaltering  faith,  and  the  evidence  of  her  generous  and  unshrinking 
Bclf-devotion.  In  the  same  spirit,  and  as  deeply  impressed  with  the  retired  character 
of  female  exertion,  the  ladies  who  have  so  warmly  greeted  your  arrival  in  this  country 
have  still  felt  it  entirely  consistent  with  the  most  sensitive  delicacy  to  make  a  public 
response  to  your  appeal,  and  to  hail  with  acclamation  your  thrilling  protest  against 
those  outrages  on  our  common  nature  which  circumstances  have  forced  on  your 
obser\'ation.  They  engage  in  no  political  discussion,  thoy  embark  in  no  public  contro- 
versy ;  but  when  an  intrepid  sister  appeals  to  the  instincts  of  women  of  every  color 
and  of  every  clime  against  a  syctem  which  eanctioni  the  violation  of  the  fondest  nlTec- 


INTRODUCTORY.  XVll 

tions  and  the  disruption  of  tlie  tenderest  ties ;  which  snatches  the  clinging  wife  from 
tlie  agonized  husband,  and  the  child  from  the  breast  of  its  fainting  mother ;  which 
leaves  the  young  and  innocent  female  a  helpless  and  almost  inevitable  victim  of  a 
licentiousness  controlled  by  no  law  and  checked  by  no  public  opinion,  —  it  is  surely 
as  feminine  as  it  is  Christian  to  sympathize  witii  her  in  her  perilous  task,  and  to 
rejoice  that  she  has  shed  such  a  vivid  light  on  enormities  which  can  exist  only  while 
unknown  or  unbelieved.  We  acknowledge  with  regret  and  shame  that  that  fatal 
system  was  introduced  into  America  by  Great  Britain  ;  but  having  in  our  colonics 
returned  from  our  devious  paths,  we  may  without  presumption,  in  the  spirit  of 
friendly  suggestion,  implore  our  honored  transatlantic  friends  to  do  the  same.  The 
ladies  of  Great  Britain  have  been  admonished  by  their  fair  sisters  in  America,  (and  I 
am  sure  they  are  bound  to  take  the  admonition  in  good  part,)  that  there  are  social 
evils  in  our  own  country  demanding  our  special  vigilance  and  care.  This  is  most  true  ; 
but  it  is  also  true  that  the  deepest  sympathies  and  most  strenuous  efforts  are  directed, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  the  evils  which  exist  among  ourselves,  and  that  the  rays  of 
benevolence  which  flash  across  the  Atlantic  are  often  but  the  indication  of  the  inten- 
sity of  the  bright  flame  which  is  shedding  light  and  heat  on  all  in  its  immediate 
vicinity.  I  believe  this  is  the  case  with  most  of  those  who  have  taken  a  prominent 
part  in  this  great  movement.  I  am  sure  it  is  preeminently  tlie  case  with  respect  to 
many  of  those  by  whom  j'ou  are  surrounded;  and  I  hardly  know  a  more  miserable 
fallacy,  by  which  sensible  men  allow  themselves  to  be  deluded,  than  that  which 
assumes  that  every  emotion  of  sympathy  which  is  kindled  by  objects  abroad  is 
abstracted  from  our  sympathies  at  home.  All  experience  points  to  a  directly  opposite 
conclusion;  and  surely  the  divine  command,  'to  go  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature,'  should  put  to  shame  and  silence  the  specious  but  trans- 
parent selfishness  which  would  contract  the  limits  of  human  sympathy,  and  veil  itself 
under  the  garb  of  superior  sagacity.  But  I  must  not  detain  you  by  any  further  obser- 
vations. Allow  me,  in  the  name  of  the  associated  ladies,  to  present  you  with  this 
small  memorial  of  great  regard,  and  to  tender  to  you  their  and  my  best  wishes  for 
your  health  and  happiness  while  you  are  sojourning  among  us,  for  the  blessing  of  God 
on  your  children  during  your  absence,  and  for  your  safe  return  to  your  native  country 
when  your  mission  shall  be  accomplished.  I  have  just  been  requested  to  state  the 
following  particulars  :  In  December  last,  a  few  ladies  met  in  this  place  to  consider 
the  best  plan  of  obtaining  signatures  in  Liverpool  to  an  address  to  the  women  of 
America  on  the  subject  of  negro  slavery,  in  substance  coinciding  with  the  one  so 
nobly  proposed  and  carried  forward  by  Lord  Shaftesbury.  At  this  meeting  it  was 
suggested  that  it  would  be  a  sincere  gratification  to  many  if  some  testimonial  could 
be  presented  to  Mrs.  Stowe  which  would  indicate  the  sense,  almost  universally  enter- 
tained, that  she  had  been  the  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God  of  arousing  the  slum- 
bering sympathies  of  this  country  in  behalf  of  the  suffering  slave.  It  was  felt  desirable 
to  render  the  expression  of  such  a  feelins  as  general  as  possible ;  and  to  effect  this  it 


Xviii  INTRODUCTORY. 

\va^  resol  ved  tliat  a  suhscriptiun  should  be  set  on  foot,  coiisisiiug  ot  contributions  of  cue 
penny  and  upwards,  witli  a  view  to  raise  a  (cslinionial,  to  be  presented  to  Mrs.  Stowo 
by  tlie  ladies  of  Livcrpix)!,  as  an  expression  of  their  grateful  appreciation  of  her  valuable 
services  in  the  cause  of  the  negro,  and  as  a  token  of  admiration  for  the  genius  and  of 
high  esteem  for  the  philanthropy  and  Christian  feelmg  which  animate  her  great  work, 
Uncle  Tom's  Cabin.  It  ought,  perhaps,  to  be  added,  that  some  friends,  not  residents 
of  Liverpofil,  have  united  in  this  tribute.  As  many  of  the  ladies  connected  with  the 
eflTort  to  obtain  signatures  to  the  address  may  not  be  aware  of  the  wliole  number 
appended,  they  may  bo  interested  in  knowing  that  they  amounted  in  all  to  twenty- 
one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty -three.  Of  tliese,  twenty  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  tl>irty-8ix  were  obtained  by  ladies  in  Liverpool,  from  their  friends  either  in  this 
neighborhood  or  at  a  distance  j  and  one  thousand  and  seventeen  were  sent  to  the 
committee  in  London  from  other  parts,  by  those  who  preferred  our  form  of  address. 
The  total  number  of  signatures  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom  to  Lord  Shaftesbury's 
address  was  upwards  of  five  hundred  tliousand." 

Professor  Stowe  then  said,  "  On  behalf  of  Mrs.  Stowe  I  will  read  from  her  pen 
the  response  to  your  generous  offering :  ♦  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  express  the  feel- 
ings of  my  heart  at  the  kind  and  generous  manner  in  which  I  have  been  received 
upon  English  shores.  Just  when  I  liad  begun  to  realize  that  a  whole  wide  ocean  lay 
between  me  and  all  that  is  dearest  to  me,  I  found  most  unexpectedly  a  homo  and 
friends  waiting  to  receive  me  liere.  I  have  had  not  an  hour  in  which  to  know  th« 
heart  of  a  stranger.  I  have  been  made  to  feel  at  home  since  the  first  moment  of  land- 
ing, and  wherever  I  have  looked  I  have  seen  only  the  faces  of  friends.  It  is  with 
deep  feeling  that  I  have  found  myself  on  ground  that  has  been  consecrated  and  made 
holy  by  the  prayers  and  efforts  of  those  who  first  commenced  the  struggle  for  that 
sacred  cause  which  has  proved  so  successful  in  England,  and  which  I  have  a  solemn 
assurance  will  yet  be  successful  in  my  own  country.  It  is  a  touching  thought  that 
here  so  many  have  given  all  that  they  have,  and  are,  in  behalf  of  oppressed  humanity. 
It  is  touching  to  remember  that  one  of  tJje  noblest  men  which  England  has  ever  pro- 
duced now  lies  stricken  under  the  heavy  hand  of  disease,  through  a  last  labor  of  love 
in  this  cause.  May  God  grant  us  all  to  feel  that  nothing  is  too  dear  or  precious  to  bo 
given  in  a  work  for  which  such  men  liave  lived,  and  labored,  and  suffered.  No  great 
good  is  ever  wrought  out  for  the  human  race  without  the  suffering  of  great  hearts. 
They  who  would  serve  their  fellow-men  are  ever  reminded  that  the  Captain  of  their 
salvation  was  made  perfect  through  suffering.  I  gratefullj-  accept  the  offering  con- 
fided to  my  care,  and  trust  it  may  be  so  employed  that  the  blessing  of  many  "  who  are 
ready  to  perish  "  will  return  upon  your  heads.  Let  me  ask  those  —  those  fathers  and 
mothers  in  Israel  —  who  have  lived  and  prayed  many  years  for  this  cause,  that  as 
they  prayed  for  their  own  country  in  the  hour  of  her  struggle,  so  they  will  pray  now 
for  ours.  Lovo  and  prayrr  can  hurt  no  one,  can  offend  no  one,  and  prayer  is  a  real 
power.    If  the  hearts  of  all  the  real  Christians  of  England  are  poured  out  in  prayer, 


INTRODUCTORY.  XIX 

it  will  be  felt  through  the  heart  of  the  whole  American  church.  Let  us  all  look 
upward,  from  our  own  feebleness  and  darkness,  to  Ilim  of  whom  it  is  said,  "  He  shall 
not  fail  nor  be  discouraged  till  he  have  set  judgment  in  the  earth."  To  him,  the 
only  wise  God  our  Saviour,  be  glory  and  majesty,  dominion  and  power,  both  now  and 
ever.  Amen.' — .These  are  the  words,  my  friends,  wliich  Mrs.  Stowe  has  written, 
and  I  cannot  forbear  to  add  a  few  words  of  my  own.  It  was  our  intention,  as  the 
invit.ation  to  visit  Great  Britain  came  from  Glasgow,  to  make  our  first  landing  there. 
But  it  was  ordered  by  Providence  that  we  should  land  here  ;  and  surely  there  is  no 
place  in  the  kingdom  where  a  landing  could  be  more  appropriate,  and  where  the 
reception  could  have  been  more  cordial.  [Hear,  hear!]  It  was  wholly  unexpected 
by  us,  I  can  assure  you.  We  knew  that  there  were  friendly  hearts  here,  for  we  had 
received  abundant  testimonials  to  that  effect  from  letters  which  had  come  to  us  across 
the  Atlantic  —  letters  wholly  unexpected,  and  which  filled  our  souls  with  surprise  ; 
but  we  had  no  thought  that  there  was  such  a  feeling  throughout  England,  and  wo 
scarcely  know  how  to  conduct  ourselves  under  it,  for  we  are  not  accustomed  to  this 
kind  of  receptions.  In  our  own  country,  unhappily,  we  are  very  much  divided,  and 
the  preponderance  of  feeling  expressed  is  in  the  other  direction,  entirely  in  opposition, 
and  not  in  favor.  [Hear,  hear  !]  We  knew  that  this  city  had  been  the  scene  of  some 
of  the  greatest,  most  disinterested,  and  most  powerful  efforts  in  behalf  of  emancipation. 
The  name  of  Clarkson  was  indissolubly  associated  with  this  place,  for  here  he  came 
to  make  his  investigations,  and  here  he  was  in  danger  of  his  life,  and  here  he  was 
protected  by  friends  who  stood  by  him  through  the  whole  struggle.  The  names  of 
Cropper,  and  of  Stephen,  and  of  many  others  in  this  city,  were  very  familiar  to  us  — 
[Hear,  hear  !]  —  and  it  was  in  connection  with  this  city  that  we  received  what  to  our 
feelings  was  a  most  effective  testimonial,  an  unexpected  letter  from  Lord  Denman, 
whom  we  have  always  venerated.  When  I  was  in  England  in  1836,  there  were  no 
two  persons  whom  I  more  desired  to  see  than  the  Duke  of  Wellington  and  Lord 
Denman ;  and  soon  I  sought  admission  to  the  House  of  Lords,  where  I  had  the 
pleasure  both  of  seeing  and  hearing  England's  great  captain ;  and  I  found  my  way  to 
the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench,  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  and  hearing  Eng- 
land's great  judge.  But  how  unexpected  was  all  this  to  us  !  When  that  book  was 
written,  in  sorrow,  and  in  sadness,  and  obscurity,  and  with  the  heart  almost  broken 
in  the  view  of  the  sufferings  which  it  described,  and  the  still  greater  sufferings  wliich 
it  dared  not  describe,  there  was  no  expectation  of  any  thing  but  the  prayers  of  tlie 
sufferers  and  the  blessing  of  God,  who  has  said  that  the  seed  which  is  buried  in  the 
earth  shall  spring  up  in  his  own  good  time  ;  and  though  it  may  be  long  buried,  it  will 
still  at  length  come  forth  and  bear  fruit.  We  never  could  believe  that  slavery  in  our 
land  would  be  a  perpetual  curse  j  but  we  felt,  and  felt  deeply,  that  there  must  be  a 
terrible  struggle  before  we  could  be  delivered  from  it,  and  that  there  must  be  suffering 
and  martyrdom  in  this  cause,  as  in  every  other  great  cause  ;  for  a  struggle  of  eighteen 
years   had   taught   us   its  strength.     And,  under  God,  we   rely  very  much  on   tlie 


XX  1NTR0DUCT0RT» 

Christian  public  of  Great  liritaiii ;  for  ever)-  expression  of  feeltn^  from  tlje  wise  and 
good  of  this  land,  uiih  whatever  petulance  it  may  bo  met  by  some,  goes  to  the  heart 
of  the  American  people.  [Hear,  hcarl]  You  must  not  judge  of  tlie  American  people 
by  the  expressions  which  have  come  across  the  Atlantic  in  reference  to  the  subject. 
Nine  tenths  of  tlie  American  people,  I  tiiink,  are,  in  opinion  at  least,  with  you  on  tliis 
great  subject;  [Hear,  hearl]  but  there  is  a  tremendous  pressure  brouglit  to  bear 
upon  ail  wlio  are  in  favor  of  emancipation.  Tlie  whole  political  power,  tiie  whole 
money  power,  almost  the  whole  ecclesiastical  power  is  wielded  in  defence  of  slavery, 
protecting  it  from  all  aggression  ;  and  it  is  as  much  as  a  man's  reputation  is  worth  to 
utter  a  syllable  boldly  and  openly  on  the  other  side.  Let  me  say  to  the  ladies  who 
have  been  active  in  getting  up  the  address  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  that  you  have 
been  doing  a  great  and  glorious  work,  and  a  work  most  appropriate  for  you  to  do ;  for 
in  slavery  it  is  woman  that  sufTers  most  intensely,  and  the  sufTering  woman  has  a 
claim  upon  the  sympathy  of  her  sisters  in  other  lands.  This  address  will  produce  a 
powerful  impression  throughout  the  country.  There  are  ladies  already  of  the  highest 
character  in  the  nation  pondering  how  they  shall  make  a  suitable  response,  and  what 
they  shall  do  in  reference  to  it  that  will  be  acceptable  to  the  ladies  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  or  will  be  profitable  to  the  slave  ;  and  in  due  season  you  will  see  that  the 
hearts  of  American  women  are  alive  to  this  matter,  as  well  as  the  hearts  of  the  women 
of  this  country.  [Hear,  hear  !]  Such  was  the  mighty  influence  brought  to  bear  upon 
everj'  thing  tiiat  threatened  slavery,  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  decided  expression  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic  in  reference  to  the  work  which  has  exerted,  under  God,  so 
much  influence,  there  is  every  reason  to  fear  that  it  would  have  been  crushed  and  put 
under  foot,  as  many  other  efTorts  for  the  overthrow  of  slavery  have  been  in  the  United 
States.  But  it  is  impossible  ;  the  unanimous  voice  of  Christendom  prohibits  it ;  and  it 
shows  that  God  has  a  work  to  accomplish,  and  that  he  has  just  commenced  it  There 
are  social  evils  in  England.  Undoubtedly  there  are  ;  but  the  difference  between  the 
social  evils  in  England  and  this  great  evil  of  slavery  in  the  United  States  is  just  here : 
In  England,  the  jjowcr  of  the  government  and  the  power  of  Christian  sympathy  are 
exerted  for  the  removal  of  those  evils.  Look  at  the  committees  of  inquirj'  in  P.arlia- 
mcnt,  look  at  tlio  amount  of  information  collected  with  regard  to  the  suffering  poor  in 
their  reports,  and  see  how  ready  the  government  of  Great  Britain  is  to  enter  into  those 
inquiries,  and  to  remove  those  evils.  Look  at  the  benevolent  institutions  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  see  how  active  all  these  are  in  administering  relief  3  and  then  see  the 
condition  of  slavery  in  the  United  States,  where  the  whole  power  of  the  government  is 
used  in  the  contrary  direction,  where  every  influence  is  brought  to  bear  to  prevent  any 
mitigation  of  the  evil,  and  where  every  voice  that  is  lifted  to  plead  for  a  mitigation  is 
drowned  in  vituperation  and  abuse  from  those  who  are  determined  that  the  evil  shall 
not  bo  mitigated.  This  is  the  difference  :  England  repents  and  reforms.  America 
refuses  to  repent  and  reform.  It  is  said,  *  Let  each  country  take  care  of  itself,  and  let 
the  ladies  ol  England  attend  to  their  own  business.'  Now  I  have  alwa3'3  found  that 
those  who  labor  at  homo  are  those  who  labor  abroad  ;   [Hear,  hear  !]   and  those  who 


INTRODUCTORY.  XXI 

say, '  Let  us  do  the  work  at  home,'  are  those  who  do  no  work  of  good  either  at  homo 
or  abroad.  [Hear,  hear!]  It  was  just  so  when  tlio  great  missionary  efl'ort  came  up 
in  the  United  States.  They  said,  '  We  have  a  great  territory  here.  Let  us  send 
missionaries  to  our  own  territories.  VVliy  should  we  send  missionaries  across  the 
ocean."  But  those  who  sent  missionaries  across  the  ocean  were  tliose  who  sent 
missionaries  in  the  United  States ;  and  those  who  did  not  send  missionaries  across  the 
ocean  were  those  who  sent  missionaries  nowhere.  [Hear,  hear!]  They  who  say, 
'  Charity  begins  at  home,'  are  generally  those  who  have  no  charity ;  and  when  I  see 
a  lady  whose  name  is  signed  to  this  address,  I  am  sure  to  find  a  lady  who  is  exercising 
her  benevolence  at  home.  Let  me  thank  you  for  all  the  interest  you  have  manifested 
and  for  all  the  kindness  which  wo  have  received  at  your  hands,  which  we  shall  ever 
remember,  both  with  gratitude  to  you  and  to  God  our  Father." 

The  Rev.  C.  M.  Birrell  afterwards  made  a  few  remarks  in  proposing  a  vote  of 
thanks  to  the  ladies  who  had  contributed  the  testimonial  which  had  been  presented 
to  the  distinguished  writer  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin.     He  said  it  was  most  delightful 
to    hear  of  the    great    good   which  that    remarkable  volume    had    done,  and,  he 
humbly  believed,  by  God's  special  inspiration  and  guidance,  was  doing,  in  the  United 
States  of  America.    It  was  not  confined  to  the  United  States  of  America.    The  volume 
was  going  forth  over  the  whole  earth,  and  great  good  was  resulting,  directly  and  indi- 
rectly, by  God's  providence,  from  it.     He  was  told  a  few  days  ago,  by  a  gentleman 
fully  conversant  with  the  facts,  that  an  edition  of  Uncle  Tom,  circulated  in  Belgium, 
had  created  an  earnest  desire  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  read  the  Bible,  so  frequently 
quoted  in  that  beautiful  work,  and  that  in  consequence  of  it  a  great  run  had  been 
made  upon  the  Bible  Society's  depositories  in  that  kingdom.     [Hear,  hear!]     The 
priests  of  the  church  of  Rome,  true  to  their  instinct,  in  endeavoring  to  maintain  the 
position  which  they  could  not  otherwise  hold,  had  published  another  edition,  from 
which  they  had  entirely  excluded  all  reference  to  the  word  of  God.     [Hear,  hear!] 
He  had  been  also  told  that  at  St.  Petersburg  an  edition  of  Uncle  Tom  had  been 
translated  into  the  Russian  tongue,  and  that  it  was  being  distributed,  by  command 
of  the   emperor,   throughout  the   whole   of   that^vast  empire.     It  was   true   that 
the  circulation  of  the  work  there  did  not  spring  from  a  special  desire  on  tl'.e  part  of 
the  emperor  to  give  liberty  to  the  people  of  Russia,  but  because  he  wished  to  create 
a  third  power  in  the  empire,  to  act  upon  the  nobles  ;  he  wished  to  cause  tliesn  to  set 
free  their  serfs,  in  order  that  a  third  power  might  be  created  in  the  empire  to  serve  as 
a  check  upon  them.    But  whatever  was  the  cause,  let  us  thank  God,  the  Author  of 
all  gifts,  for  what  is  done. 

Sir  George  Stephen  seconded  the  motion  of  thanks  to  the  ladies,  observing  that 
he  had  peculiar  reasons  for  doing  so.  He  supposed  that  he  was  one  of  the  oldest 
laborers  in  this  cause.  Thirty  years  ago  he  found  that  the  work  of  one  lady  was 
equal  to  that  of  fifty  men ;  and  now  we  had  the  work  of  one  lady  which  was  equal  to 
that  of  all  the  male  sex.  [Applause.] 
VOL.   J.  C 


XXU  INTRODUCTORY. 


PUBLIC   MEETING   IN   GLASGOW  — April  15. 

Thi:  Rev.  I)b.  Wardlaw  was  introduced  by  the  chairman,  and  spoke  as  follows  :  — 
"The  members  of  the  Glasgow  Ladies'  New  Antislavery  Association  and  the  citi- 
zens of  Glasgow,  now  assembled,  hail  with  no  ordinary  satisfaction,  and  with 
becoming  gratitude  to  a  kindly  protecting  Providence,  the  safe  arrival  amongst  them 
of  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.  They  feel  obliged  by  her  accepting,  with  so  much 
promptitude  and  cordiality,  the  invitation  addressed  to  her  —  an  invitation  intended 
to  express  the  favor  they  bore  to  her,  and  the  honor  in  wliich  they  held  her,  as  the 
eminently  gifted  authoress  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  —  a  work  of  humble  name,  but  of 
high  excellence  and  world-wide  celebrity ;  a  work  the  felicity  of  whose  conception 
is  more  than  equalled  by  the  admirable  tact  of  its  execution,  and  the  Christian  benev- 
olence of  its  design,  by  its  exquisite  adaptation  to  its  accomplishment;  distinguished 
by  the  singular  variety  and  consistent  discrimination  of  its  characters  ;  by  the  purity 
of  its  religious  and  moral  principles;  by  its  racy  humor,  and  its  touching  patlios,  and 
its  effectively  powerful  appeals  to  the  judgment,  the  conscience,  and  the  heart;  a 
work,  indeed,  of  whose  sterling  worth  the  earnest  test  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  of  its 
having  so  universally  touched  and  stirred  the  bosom  of  our  common  humanity,  in  all 
classes  of  society,  that  its  himible  name  has  become  '  a  household  word,'  from  the 
palace  to  the  cottage,  and  of  the  extent  of  its  circulation  having  been  unprecedented 
in  the  history  of  the  literature  of  this  or  of  any  other  age  or  country.  They  would,  at 
the  same  time,  include  in  their  hearty  welcome  the  Rev.  C.  E.  Stowe,  Professor  of 
Theological  Literature  in  the  Andover  Theological  Seminarj',  Massachusetts,  whose 
eminent  qualifications,  as  a  classical  scholar,  a  man  of  general  literature,  and  a 
theologian,  have  recently  placed  him  in  a  highly  honorable  and  responsible  position, 
and  who,  on  the  subject  of  slaverj-,  holds  the  same  principles  and  breathes  the  same 
spirit  of  freedom  with  his  accomplished  partner;  and,  along  with  them  too,  another 
member  of  the  same  singtilarly  talented  family  with  herself.  They  delight  to  think 
of  the  amount  of  good  to  the  cause  of  emancipation  and  universal  liberty  which  her 
Cabin  has  already  done,  and  to  anticipate  the  still  larger  amount  it  is  yet  destined  to 
do,  now  that  the  Key  to  the  Cabin  has  triumphantly  shown  it  to  bo  no  fiction  ;  and  in 
whatever  further  efforts  she  may  be  honored  of  Heaven  to  make  in  the  same  noble 
cause,  they  desire,  unitedly  and  heartily,  to  cheer  her  on,  and  bid  her  'God  speed.' 
I  cannot  but  feel  myself  highly  honored  in  having  been  requested  to  move  this  resolu- 
tion. In  doing  so,  I  have  the  happiness  of  introducing  to  a  Glasgow  audience  a  lady 
from  the  transatlantic  continent,  the  extraordinary  production  of  whose  pen,  referred 
to  in  the  resolution,  had  made  her  name  familiar  in  our  country  and  through  Europe, 
ere  she  appeared  in  person  among  us.  My  judgment  and  my  heart  alike  fully 
respond  to  every  thing  said  in  the  resolution  respecting  that  inimitable  work.    We  are 


INTRODUCTORY.  Xxiii 

accustomed  to  make  a  distinction  between  works  of  nature  and  works  of  art,  but  in  a 
sense  wliich  ail  will  readily  understand,  tliis  is  preeminently  botli.  As  a  work  of 
art,  it  bears  upon  it,  throughout,  the  stamp  of  original  and  varied  genius.  And  yet, 
lliroughoiit,  it  equally  bears  the  impress  of  nature  —  of  human  nature  —  in  its  worst 
and  its  best,  and  all  its  intermediate  phases.  The  man  who  has  read  that  little 
volume  without  laughing  and  crying  alternately  —  without  the  meltings  of  pity,  the 
thrillings  of  horror,  and  the  kindlings  of  indignation  —  would  supply  a  far  better  argu- 
ment for  a  distinct  race  than  a  negro.  [Loud  laughter  and  cheers.]  He  must  have 
a  humanity  peculiarly  his  own.  And  he  who  can  read  it  without  the  breathmgs  of 
devotion  must,  if  he  calls  himself  a  Christian,  have  a  Christianity  as  unique  and 
questionable  as  his  humanity.  [Cheering.]  Never  did  work  produce  such  a  sensa- 
tion. Among  us  that  sensation  has  happily  been  all  of  one  kind.  It  has  been  the 
stirring  of  universal  sympathy  and  unbounded  admiration.  Not  so  in  the  country  of 
its  own  and  of  its  gifted  authoress's  birth.  There,  the  ferment  has  been  among  the 
friends  as  well  as  the  foes  of  slavery.  Among  the  fonner  all  is  rage.  Among  the 
latter,  while  there  are  some  —  we  trust  not  a  few  —  who  take  the  same  high  and 
noble  position  with  the  talented  authoress,  there  are  too  many,  we  fear,  who  are 
frightened  by  this  uncompromising  boldness,  and  who  are  drawn  back  rather  than 
drawn  forward  by  it  —  who  'halt  between  two  opinions,'  and  are  the  advocates 
of  medium  principles  and  medium  measures.  By  many  among  ourselves,  the  excite- 
ment which  has  been  stirred  is  contemplated  with  apprehension.  "They  regard  it  as 
unfavorable  to  emancipation,  and  likely  to  retard  rather  than  to  advance  its  progress. 
I  must  confess  myself  of  a  somewhat  different  mind.  That  the  cause  may  be  obstruct- 
ed by  it  for  a  time,  may  be  true.  But  it  will  work  well  in  the  long  run.  Good  will 
ultimately  come  out  of  it.  Stir  is  better  than  stagnancy.  Irritation  is  better  than 
apathy.  Whence  does  it  arise  ?  From  two  sources.  The  conscience  and  the  honor 
of  the  country  have  both  been  touched.  Conscience  winces  under  the  touch.  The 
provocation  shows  it  to  be  ill  at  ease.  The  wound  is  painful,  and  it  natmally  awakens 
fretfulness  and  resentment.  But  by  and  by  the  angry  excitement  will  subside,  and  the 
salutary  conviction  will  remain  and  operate.  The  national  honor,  too,  has  been  touched. 
Our  friends  across  the  wave  boast,  and  with  good  reason,  of  the  free  principles  of  their 
constitution.  They  glory  in  their  liberty.  But  they  cannot  fail  to  feel  the  inconsist- 
encj'  of  their  position,  and  the  exposure  of  it  to  the  world  kindles  on  the  choigk  the 
blush  of  shame  and  the  reddening  fire  of  displeasure.  Now,  the  blush  has  a  right 
source.  It  is  the  blush  of  patriotism  —  it  is  for  their  country.  But  there  is  anger  with 
the  shame  ;  for  few  things  are  more  galling  than  to  feel  that  to  be  wrong  which  you  arc 
unable  to  justify,  and  which,  yet,  you  are  not  prepared  to  relinquish.  [Loud  applause.] 
On  the  whole,  I  cannot  but  regard  the  agitation  which  has  been  produced  as  an  aus- 
picious, rather  than  a  discouraging  omen.  It  was  when  the  waters  of  the  pool  were 
troubled  that  their  healing  virtue  was  imparted.  Let  us  then  hope  that  the  troubling 
of  the  waters  by  this  ministering  angel  of  mercy  may  impregnate  them  with  a  similar 


\ 
xxiv  INTKODUCTOllY. 

sanative  influence,  [the  reverend  doctor  )iere  pointed  towards  Mrs.  Ftowe,  while  the 
audience  burst  out  with  enthusiaiitic  acclamations  and  waving  of  liandkercliicf-!,]  and 
thus  ultimately  contribute  to  the  healing  of  the  ghastly  wounds  of  the  chain  and  the 
lash,  and  to  the  setting  of  the  crushed  and  bowed  down  erect  in  the  soundness  and 
dignity  of  tiieir  true  manlHK)d.  [I^ud  cheering.]  Sorry  we  are  that  .Mrs.  Stowe  should 
appear  ainong.st  us  in  a  state  of  broken  health  and  physical  exhaustion.  No  one  who 
looks  at  the  Cabin  and  at  the  Key,  and  who  knows  aught  of  the  effect  of  severe 
mental  labor  on  the  bodily  frame,  will  marvel  at  this.  Wo  fondly  trust,  and  ear- 
nestly pray,  that  her  temixirary  sojourn  among  ns  may,  by  the  divine  blessing,  re- 
cruit her  strength,  and  contribute  to  the  prolongation  of  a  life  so  promising  of  benefit 
to  suffering  humanity,  and  to  the  glory  of  God.  [Cheers.]  Meanwhile  she  enjoys 
the  happy  consciousne.ss  that  she  is  suffering  in  a  good  cause.  A  better  there 
could  not  l»e.  It  is  one  which  involves  tlio  well  being,  corporeal  and  mental,  physical 
and  spiritual,  temi)<>ral  and  eternal,  of  degraded,  plundered,  oppressed,  darkened,  bru- 
talized, perishing  millions.  And,  while  wo  delight  in  furnishing  her  for  a  time  with  a 
peaceful  retreat  from  'the  wrath  of  men,'  from  the  resentment  of  those  who,  did 
tliey  but  rightly  know  their  own  interests,  would  have  smiled  up<in  her,  and  blessed 
her,  v.'c  trust  she  enjoys,  and  ever  will  enjoy,  quietness  and  assurance  of  an  infinitely 
hijiher  order  —  the  divine  Master,  whom  she  serves  and  seeks  to  lionor ;  proving  to 
her,  in  the  terms,  of  his  own  i)rumise,  'a  refuge  from  the  storm,  and  a  covert  from  the 
tempest.'  [Enthusiastic  cheering.]  It  may  sound  strangely,  that,  when  assembled 
for  the  very  purpose  of  denouncing  '  property  in  man,'  we  should  be  |)ntting  in  our 
claims  for  a  share  of  property  in  woman.  So,  however,  it  ij.  We  claim  Mrs.  Stowe 
ns  ours  —  [renewed  clicers]  — not  ours  only,  but  still  ours.  Slie  is  British  and  Euro- 
pean property  as  well  as  American.  She  is  the  property  of  the  whole  world  of  litera- 
ture and  the  whole  world  of  humanity.  [Cheers.]  Should  our  transatlantic  friends 
repudiate  the  property,  they  may  transfer  their  share—  [laughter  and  cheers]  —most 
gladly  will  we  accept  the  transferrence." 

rnoFEssoR  Stowe,  on  rising  to  reply,  was  greeted  with  the  mo't  enthusiastic  ap- 
plause. He  said  that  he  appeared  in  the  name  of  Mrs.  Stowe,  and  in  his  own  name,  for 
the  piir|M)so  of  cordially  thanking  the  people  of  Glasgow  for  the  reception  that  had  been 
given  to  them.  Rut  Jio  could  not  find  words  to  do  it.  Was  it  true  that  all  tliis  affec- 
tionate interest  was  merited.'  [Cheers.]  He  could  not  imagine  any  book  capable  of 
exciting  such  c.\|)rcssions  of  attachment  ;  indeed  he  was  inclined  to  believe  it  had  not 
been  written  at  ail  —  he  " 'spected  it  grew."  [Tremendous  cheers.]  Under  the  op- 
pression of  the  fugitive  slave  law  the  book  had  sprung  from  the  soil  ready  made.  Ho 
regretted  exceedingly  that  in  consequence  of  the  state  of  Mrs.  Stowe's  health,  and  in 
consecpience  of  the  great  [iressure  of  engagements  on  himself,  their  stay  in  this  country 
would  ho  necessarily  short.  But  he  hoped  they  would  accept  of  the  expression  of 
thanks  they  offered,  and  their  apology  for  not  being  in  a  condition  to  meet  their  kind- 
ness as  they  would  desire.    When  they  were  about  to  set  out  from  Andover,  a  friend 


INTRODUCTORY.  XXV 

of  theirs  expressed  his  astonisliment  that  they  should  enter  upon  such  a  journey 
in  the  delicate  state  of  Mrs.  Stowe's  health.  The  Scotch  people,  he  doubted  not,  would 
be  kind  to  them  —  tliey  would  kill  them  with  kindness;  and  ho  feared  it  would  be  so. 
It  was  from  Glasgow  the  idea  of  the  invitation  they  had  received  had  originated  ;  and 
well  might  it  originate  in  that  city,  for  when  had  been  the  time  that  Glasgow  was  not 
in  earnest  on  the  subject  of  freedom  ?  They  had  had  hard  struggles  for  liberty,  and 
they  had  been  successful,  and  the  people  in  the  United  States  were  now  struggling  for 
the  same  privilege.  But  they  labored  under  circumstances  greatly  different  from  those 
in  Great  Britain.  Scotland  had  ever  been  distinguished  for  its  love  of  freedom.  [Great 
applause.]  The  religious  denominations  in  the  United  States  —  to  a  great  extent,  give 
few  and  feeble  expressions  of  disapprobation  against  the  system  of  slaver}'.  Two  de- 
nominations had  never  been  silent  —  the  Old  Scotch  Seceders,  or  Covenanters,  and 
tlie  disciples  of  William  Penn  —  not  one  of  their  number,  in  tlie  United  Slates,  owns  a 
slave.  Not  one  can  own  a  slave  without  being  ejected  from  the  society.*  In  fact,  the 
general  feeling  was  against  slavery;  but  to  avoid  trouble,  the  people  hesitate  to  give 
publicity  to  their  feelings.  Were  this  done,  slavery  would  soon  come  to  an  end.  Great 
sacrifices  are  sometimes  made  by  slaveholders  to  get  rid  of  slavery.  He  went  once  to 
preach  in  the  State  of  Ohio.  He  found  there  a  little  log  house.  Inside  was  a  delicate 
woman,  feeble  and  with  white  hands.  She  seemed  wholly  unaccustomed  to  work. 
Her  husband  had  the  same  appearance  of  delicacy.  They  were  very  poor.  How  had 
they  come  into  that  state  ?  They  belonged  to  a  slave  State,  where  they  had  formerly 
possessed  a  little  family  of  slaves.  They  had  felt  slavery  to  be  wrong.  They  set  them 
free,  and  with  the  remainder  of  their  little  property  tried  to  get  their  living  by  farming  ; 
but  like  many  similar  cases,  it  had  been  one  of  martyrdom.  The  Professor  then  pro- 
ceeded to  make  some  very  practical  remarks  on  the  character  of  the  fugitive  slave 
law,  after  which  he  said  that  the  prosperity  of  Great  Britain  in  a  great  measure  re- 
sulted from  the  products  of  slave  labor.  American  cotton  was  the  chief  support  of  the 
system.  We  must,  both  in  Britain  and  America,  get  free-grown  cotton,  or  slavery  will 
not,  at  least  for  a  long  time  to  come,  be  abolished.  What  he  would  impress  on  the 
minds  of  Christians  was  unity  in  this  great  work.  Let  slaveholders  be  ever  so  much 
opposed  to  each  other  on  other  topics,  they  were  unanimous  in  their  endeavors  to  suj)- 
port  slavery.  But  let  the  prayers  of  all  Christians  and  the  efforts  of  all  Christians  be 
united,  and  the  system  of  oppression  would  speedily  be  destroyed  forever. 

PUBLIC   MEETING  IN   EDINBURGH  —  April  20. 

The  Lord  Provost  rose,  and  stated  that  a  number  of  letters  of  apology  had  been 
received  from  parties  who  had  been  invited  to  take  part  in  the  meeting,  but  who  had 

*  Since  my  return  to  the  United  States  I  have  been  informed  that  the  Freewill  Baptist  denom- 
ination have  adopted  the  same  rigid  principle  of  slavery  exclusion  that  characterizes  the  Scotch 
Seceders  and  the  Qn:ikers.    Let  this  be  known  t<»  their  honor. 


XXVI  INTUODUCTORY. 

been  unable  to  attend.  Among  these  ho  might  mention  Professor  Blackie,  tJie  Rev. 
Mr.  Gilfill.ui,  of  Dundee,  Rev.  J.  Bign,  D.  U.,  Iho  Earl  of  Buchan,  Dr.  Candlish,  and 
Sir  W.  GihKon  Craig,  all  of  whom  expressed  their  regret  that  they  ctnild  not  be  pres- 
ent. One  of  them,  he  observed,  was  from  a  gentleman  wliu  had  long  taken  an  inter- 
est in  the  antislavery  cause,  —  Lord  Cockburn,*  —  and  his  note  was  so  warm,  and 
sympathciir,  and  hearty  on  the  subject  about  which  they  had  met,  that  he  could  not 
resist  the  icmptation  of  reading  it.  It  proceeded,  "I  regret,  that  owing  to  my  being 
obliged  to  be  in  -Ayrshire,  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  join  you  in  the  expression  of 
respect  and  gratitude  to  Mrs.  Stowc  ;  she  deserves  all  the  honor  that  can  be  done  her ; 
she  has  done  more  for  humanity  than  was  ever  accomplished  before  by  a  single  book  of 
fiction.  [Cheers,]  It  did  not  require  nnich  to  raise  our  British  feeling  against  slavery, 
but  by  showing  us  what  substantially  are  facts,  and  the  necessary  tendency  of  this  evil 
in  its  most  mitigated  form,  she  has  greatly  strengthened  the  ground  on  which  this  feel- 
ing rest^.  Her  work  may  have  no  immediate  or  present  influence  on  the  states  of  her 
own  country  that  are  now  unhappily  under  the  curse,  and  may  indeed  for  a  time  ag- 
gravate i»9  horrors;  but  it  is  a  prodigious  accession  to  the  constantly  accumulating 
mass  of  views  and  evidence,  which  by  reason  of  its  force  must  finally  jirevail." 
[Cheers.]  The  Lord  Provost  proceeded  to  say,  that  they  had  now  assembled  chiefly  to 
do  honor  to  their  distinguished  guest,  Mrs.  Stowe.  [Applause.]  Tliey  had  met,  how- 
ever, also  to  express  their  interest  in  the  cause  which  it  had  been  the  great  efTort  of 
her  life  to  promote  —  the  abolition  of  slavery.  They  took  advantage  of  lier  presence, 
and  the  effect  which  was  produced  on  the  public  mind  of  this  country,  to  reiterate 
their  love  for  the  abolition  cause,  and  their  detestation  of  slavery.  Before  they  were 
aware  that  Mrs.  Stowe  was  to  grace  the  city  of  Edinburgh  with  her  presence,  a  com- 
mittee had  been  organized  to  collect  a  penny  offering  —  the  amount  to  bo  contributed 
in  pence,  and  other  small  sums,  from  the  masses  of  this  country  —  to  be  presented  to 
her  as  some  means  of  mitigating,  through  her  instrumentality,  the  horrors  of  slavery, 
as  they  might  come  under  her  observation.  It  was  intended  at  once  as  a  mark  of  their 
esteem  for  her,  of  their  confidence  in  her,  of  their  conviction  that  she  would  do  what 
^vas  right  in  the  cause,  and,  at  the  same  time,  as  an  evidence  of  the  detestation  in 
which  the  system  of  slavery  was  held  in  this  free  country.  That  penny  otrering  now, 
he  was  happy  to  say,  by  the  spontaneous  eftbrts  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  and  other 
towns,  amounted  to  a  considerable  sum ;  to  certain  gentlemen  in  Edinburgh  forming 
the  committee  the  whole  credit  of  this  organization  was  due,  and  he  believed  one  of 
their  number,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ballantyne,  would  present  the  olVoring  that  evening,  and 
tell  them  all  about  it,  lie  would  nut,  tiieroforo,  forestall  what  he  would  have  to  say 
on  the  subject.  They  were  also  to  have  tiie  pleasure  of  presenting  Mrs.  Stowe  with  an 
address  from  the  coinmitloe  in  this  city,  which  would  be  prcsonted  by  another  reverend 
friend,  who  would  be  introduced  at  the  proper  time.     As  there  would  bo  a  number  of 

•  Thin  venerated  and  erudite  jurist,  the  friend  and  biographer  of  tlie  celebrated  Lord  Jeflfrey, 
has  recently  died. 


INTRODUCTORY.  XXVU 

speakers  to  follow  during  the  evening,  his  own  remarks  must  be  exceedingly  short ;  but 
he  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  saying  how  happy  he  felt  at  being  once  more  in 
the  midst  of  a  great  meeting  in  the  city  of  Eiiinbuigh,  for  the  purpose  of  expressing 
their  detestation  of  the  system  of  slavery.  Tliey  could  appeal  to  their  brethren  in  tlio 
United  States  with  clean  hands,  because  they  had  got  rid  of  tlio  abomination  them- 
selves ;  they  could  therefore  say  to  them,  through  their  friends  who  were  now  present, 
on  their  return  home,  and  through  tJie  press,  which  would  carry  their  sentiments  even 
to  the  slave  states  —  they  could  say  to  them  that  they  had  washed  their  own  hands 
of  the  evil  at  the  largest  pecuniary  sacrifice  that  was  ever  made  by  any  nation  for  the 
promotion  of  any  good  cause.  [Loud  applause.]  Some  parties  said  that  they  should 
not  speak  harshly  of  the  Americans,  because  they  were  full  of  prejudice  with  regard  to 
the  system  which  they  had  seen  growing  up  around  them.  He  said  so  too  with  all  his 
heart;  he  joined  in  the  sentiment  that  they  should  not  speak  harshly,  but  they  might 
fairly  express  their  opinion  of  the  system  with  which  their  American  friends  were  sur- 
rounded, and  in  which  he  thought  all  who  supported  it  were  guilty  participators. 
[Hear,  hear!]  They  could  denounce  the  wickedness,  they  could  tell  them  that  they 
thought  it  was  their  duty  to  put  an  end  to  it  speedily.  The  cause  of  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  our  own  colonies  long  hung  without  any  visible  progress,  notwithstanding 
the  efforts  of  many  distinguished  men,  who  did  all  they  could  to  mitigate  some  of  its 
more  prominent  evils  ;  and  yet,  so  long  as  they  never  struck  at  the  root,  the  progress 
which  they  made  was  almost  insensible.  They  knew  how  many  men  had  spent  their 
energies,  and  some  of  them  their  lives,  in  attempting  to  forward  the  cause  ;  but  how 
little  effect  was  producoJ  for  the  first  half  of  the  present  century  !  The  city  of  Edin- 
burgh had  always,  he  was  glad  to  say,  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  cause ;  it  was  one 
of  the  very  first  to  take  up  the  ground  of  total  and  entire  abolition.  [Cheers.]  A  pred- 
ecessor of  his  own  in  the  civic  chair  was  so  kind  as  to  preside  at  a  meeting  held  in 
Edinburgh  twenty-three  years  ago,  in  which  a  very  decided  step  was  proposed  to  be 
taken  in  advance,  and  a  resolution  was  moved  by  the  then  Dean  of  Faculty,  to  the  ef- 
fect that  on  tlie  following  first  of  January,  1831,  all  the  children  born  of  slave  parents 
in  our  colonies  were  from  that  date  to  be  declared  free.  That  was  thought  a  great  and 
most  important  movement  by  the  promoters  of  the  cause.  There  were,  however,  par- 
ties at  that  crowded  meeting  who  thought  that  even  this  was  a  mere  expedient  —  that 
it  was  a  mere  pruning  of  the  branches,  leaving  the  whole  system  intact.  One  of  these 
was  the  late  Dr.  Andrew  Tliomson  —  [cheers]  —  who  had  the  courage  to  propose  that 
the  meeting  should  at  once  declare  for  total  and  immediate  abolition,  which  proposal 
was  seconded  by  another  excellent  citizen,  Mr.  Dickie.  Dr.  Thomson  replied  to  some 
of  the  arguments  which  had  been  put  forward,  to  the  effect  that  the  total  abolition 
might  possibly  occasion  bloodshed  ;  and  he  said  that,  even  if  that  did  follow,  it  was  no 
fault  of  his,  and  that  he  still  stuck  to  the  principle,  which  he  considered  right  under 
any  circumstances.  The  chairman,  thereupon,  threatened  to  leave  the  chair  on  ac- 
count of  the  unnecessarily  strong  language  used,  and  when  the  sentiments  were  reiter- 


XX  Vm  INTUODUCTOKY. 

ated  by  Mr.  Dickie,  he  actually  bolted,  and  left  the  meeting,  which  was  thrown  into 
great  confusion.  A  few  dnys  afterwards,  liowever,  anoilicr  meeting  was  held  —  ono 
of  the  largest  and  most  eflective  that  had  been  ever  held  in  Edinburgh  — at  which 
were  present  .Mr.  Joiin  Shank  More  in  the  chair,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomson,  Rev.  Dr 
Gordon,  Dr.  Ritchie,  Mr.  Muirhcad,  tiie  Rev.  Mr.  Kuchanan  of  North  Leith,  .Mr.  J. 
Wighani,  Jr.,  Dr.  Greville,  Sec.  The  Lord  Provost  proceeded  to  read  extracts  from  the 
speeches  made  at  tlie  meeting,  showing  that  the  sentiments  of  the  inhabitants  of  Edin- 
l)urglj,  so  far  back  as  1830,  as  uttered  by  some  of  its  most  distinguished  men,  —  not  vio- 
lent agitators,  but  ministers  of  the  gosipel,  promoters  of  peace  and  order,  and  every  good 
and  every  benevolent  purpose,  —  were  in  favor  of  the  immediate  and  total  abolition  of 
slavery  in  our  colonies.  lie  referred  especially  to  the  speech  of  Dr.  Andrew  Thomson 
on  this  occasion,  from  which  he  read  the  following  extract:  "But  if  tlie  argument  is 
forced  upon  me  to  accomplish  this  great  object,  that  there  must  be  violence,  let  it  come, 
for  it  will  soon  pass  away  —  let  it  come  and  rage  it3  little  hour,  since  it  is  to  be  suc- 
ceeded by  lasting  freedom,  and  prosperity,  and  happiness.  Give  me  the  hurricane 
rather  than  the  pestilence.  Give  me  the  hurricane,  with  its  thunders,  and  its  light- 
nings, and  its  tempests  —  give  me  the  hurricane,  with  its  partial  and  temporary  devas- 
tations, awful  though  they  be  —  give  me  tlie  hurricane,  which  brings  along  with  it 
purifying,  and  healthful,  and  salutary  effects  —  give  me  the  hurricane  rather  than  the 
noisome  pestilence,  whose  path  is  never  crossed,  whoso  silence  is  never  disturbed, 
whose  progress  is  ne\'er  arrested  by  one  sweeping  blast  from  the  heavens  —  which 
walks  peacefully  and  sullenly  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  breathing  poi- 
son into  every  heart,  and  carrying  havoc  into  every  home  —  enervating  all  that  is  strong, 
defacing  all  that  is  beautiful,  and  casting  its  blight  over  the  fairest  and  happiest  scenes 
of  human  life  —  and  which  from  day  to  day,  and  from  year  to  year,  with  intolerant  and 
interminable  malignity,  sends  its  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  hapless  victims 
into  the  cver-yawnmg  and  never-satisfied  grave  I  " —  [Loud  and  long  applause.]  The 
experience  which  they  had  had,  that  all  the  dangers,  all  the  bloodshed  and  violence 
whicli  were  threatened,  were  merely  imaginary,  afid  that  none  of  these  evils  had  come 
u|M  n  them  although  slavery  h.id  been  totally  abolished  by  us,  should,  he  thought,  be  an 
cnrouragemcnt  to  their  American  friends  to  go  home  and  tell  their  countrymen  that  in 
this  great  city  the  views  now  put  forward  were  advocated  long  ago  —  that  the  persons 
who  now  held  them  said  the  same  years  ago  of  the  disturbances  and  the  evils  which 
would  arise  from  pressing  the  question  of  immediate  and  total  abolition  —  that  the  same 
kind  of  arguments  and  the  same  predictions  of  evil  were  uttered  in  England  —  and 
although  she  had  not  the  experience,  although  she  had  not  the  opportunity  of  pointing 
to  the  pat^t,  and  saying  the  evil  had  not  come  in  such  a  case,  still,  even  then,  they  were 
willing  to  face  the  evil,  to  stick  to  the  righteous  principle,  and  to  say,  come  what 
would,  justice  must  be  done  to  the  slave,  and  slavery  must  bo  wholly  and  immediate- 
ly abolished.  [Cheers.J  He  had  said  so  much  on  the  question  of  slavery,  because  he 
was  very  sure  it  would  be  much  more  agreeable  to  their  modest  and  retiring  and  dis- 


INTRODUCTORY.  XXIX 

tinguished  guest  that  one  should  speak  about  any  other  thing  than  about  herself. 
Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  needed  no  reconimendatiou  from  iiiin.  [Loud  dicers.]  It  was  the 
most  extraordinary  book,  he  thought,  that  liad  ever  been  published  ;  no  book  had  ever 
got  int;)  the  same  circulation  ;  none  had  ever  produced  a  tithe  of  the  impression  which 
it  liad  produced  within  a  given  time.  It  was  worth  all  the  proslavery  press  of  Amer- 
ica i)Ut  together.  The  horrors  of  slavery  were  not  merely  described,  but  they  were 
actually  pictured  to  tlie  eye.  They  were  se^u  and  understood  fully;  formerly  they 
were  mere  dim  visions,  about  which  there  was  great  difference  of  opinion  ;  some  saw 
them  as  in  a  mist,  and  others  more  clearly;  but  now  every  body  saw  and  understood 
slavery.  Every  body  in  this  great  city,  if  they  had  a  voice  in  the  matter,  would  be  pre- 
pared to  say  tliat  they  wished  slavery  to  be  utterly  extinguished.    [Loud  cheers.] 

Professor  Stowe  then  rose,  and  was  greeted  with  loud  cheers.  He  begged  to  read 
the  following  note  fiom  Mrs.  Stowe,  in  acknowledgment  of  the  honor:  — 

"  I  accept  these  congratulations  and  honors,  and  this  offering,  which  it  has  pleased 
Scotland  to  bestow  on  me,  not  for  any  thing  which  I  have  said  or  done,  not  as  in  any 
sense  .acknowledging  that  they  are  or  can  be  deserved,  but  with  heartfelt,  humble 
gratitude  to  God,  as  tokens  of  mercy  to  a  cause  most  sacred  and  most  oppressed.  la 
the  name  of  a  people  despised  and  rejected  of  men  —  in  the  name  of  men  of  sorrows 
acquainted  with  grief,  from  whom  the  faces  of  all  the  great  and  powerful  of  the  earth 
have  been  hid  — in  the  name  of  oppressed  and  suffering  humanity,  I  thank  you.  The 
offering  given  is  the  dearer  to  me,  and  the  more  hopeful,  that  it  is  literally  the  penny 
offering,  given  by  thousands  on  thousands,  a  penny  at  a  time.  When,  in  travel- 
ling through  your  country,  aged  men  and  women  have  met  me  with  such  fervent 
blessinns,  little  children  gathered  round  me  with  such  loving  eyes — when  honest 
hands,  hard  with  toil,  have  been  stretched  forthwith  such  hearty  welcome  —  when 
I  have  seen  how  really  it  has  come  from  the  depths  of  the  hearts  of  the  common  peo- 
ple, and  know,  as  I  truly  do,  what  prayers  are  going  up  with  it  from  the  humblest 
homes  of  Scotknd,  I  am  encouraged.  I  believe  it  is  God  who  inspires  this  feeling, 
and  1  believe  God  never  inspired  it  in  vain.  I  feel  an  assurance  that  the  Lord  hath 
looked  down  from  heaven  to  hear  the  groaning  of  the  prisoner,  and  according  to  the 
greatness  of  his  power,  to  loose  those  that  are  appointed  to  die.  In  the  human  view, 
nothing  can  be  more  hopeless  than  this  cause  ;  all  the  wealth,  and  all  the  power,  and 
all  the  worldly  influence  is  against  it.  But  here  in  Scotland,  need  we  tell  tlie  chil- 
dren of  the  Covenant,  that  the  Lord  on  high  is  mightier  tlian  all  human  power  ?  Here, 
close  by  the  spot  where  your  fathers  signed  that  Covenant,  in  an  liour  when  Scotland's 
cause  was  equally  poor  and  depressed  —  here,  by  the  spot  where  huly  martyrs  sealed  it 
with  their  blood,  it  will  neither  seem  extravagance  nor  enthus-iasm  to  say  to  the  chil- 
dren of  such  parents,  that  for  the  support  of  this  cause,  we  look,  not  to  the  things  that 
are  seen,  but  to  the  things  that  are  not  seen  ;  to  that  God,  who,  in  the  face  of  all  world- 
ly power,  gave  liberty  to  Scotland,  in  answer  to  your  fathers'  prayers.  Our  trust  is  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  the  promise  that  he  shall 


XXX  INTRODUCTORY. 

reign  till  he  halli  put  ail  things  under  his  feet.  There  are  those  faithless  ones,  who, 
standing  at  the  grave  of  a  buried  humanity,  tell  us  that  it  is  vain  to  hope  for  our 
brother,  because  he  hath  lain  in  tiie  grave  three  days  already.  We  turn  from  them 
to  the  face  of  Mini  who  Jias  said,  '  TJiy  brother  shall  rise  again.'  There  was  a  time 
when  our  great  High  Priest,  our  Brother,  yet  our  Lord,  lay  in  the  grave  three  days  ; 
and  the  governors  and  jwwera  of  the  earth  made  it  as  sure  as  they  could,  sealing 
the  stone  and  setting  a  watch.  But  a  third  day  came,  and  an  earthquake,  and  an 
angel.  So  shall  it  be  to  the  cause  of  the  oppressed  ;  though  now  small  and  despised, 
we  are  watchers  at  the  sepulchre,  like  Mary  and  tlie  trusting  women ;  we  can  sit 
through  the  hours  of  darkness.  We  are  watching  the  sky  for  the  golden  streaks  of 
dawning,  and  we  believe  that  the  third  day  will  surely  come.  For  Christ  our  Lord, 
being  raised  from  the  dead,  dieth  no  more  ;  and  he  has  pledged  his  word  that  he  shall 
not  fail  nor  bo  discouraged  till  lie  have  set  judgment  on  the  earth.  lie  shall  deliver 
the  poor  when  lie  crieth,  the  needy,  and  him  that  hath  no  helper.  The  night  is  far 
spent —  tiie  day  is  at  hand.  The  universal  sighing  of  humanity  in  ail  countries,  the 
whole  creation  groaning  and  travailing  in  pain  together  —  the  earnest  expectation  of 
the  creature  waiting  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God  —  show  that  the  day  is 
not  distant  when  he  will  break  every  yoke,  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free.  And  what- 
ever we  are  able  to  do  for  this  sacred  cause,  let  us  cast  it  where  the  innumerable  mul- 
titude of  heaven  cast  their  crowns,  at  the  feet  of  the  Lamb,  saying,  'Worthy  is  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strengtlj,  and  hon- 
or, and  glor}',  and  blessings,'  " 

Tlie  Rev.  Professor  then  continued.  "  iMy  Lord  Provost,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 
This  cause,  to  be  successful,  must  be  carried  on  in  a  religious  spirit,  with  a  deep  sense 
of  our  dependence  on  God,  and  with  that  love  for  our  fellow-men  which  the  gospel 
requires.  It  is  because  I  think  I  have  met  this  spirit  since  I  reached  the  shores  of 
Great  Britain,  in  those  who  have  taken  an  interest  in  the  cause,  that  I  feel  encouraged 
to  hope  that  the  expression  of  your  feeling  will  be  eflective  on  the  hearts  of  Chris- 
tians on  theothersideof  the  Atlantic.  There  are  Christians  there  as  sincere,  as  hearty, 
and  as  earnest,  as  any  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  They  liave  looked  at  this  subject, 
and  been  troubled  ;  they  have  Jiardly  known  what  to  do,  and  their  hearts  liave  been 
discouraged.  They  have  almost  turned  away  their  eyes  from  it,  because  they  have 
scarcely  dared  encounter  it,  the  difhculties  appeared  to  them  so  great.  Wrong 
cannc't  always  receive  the  supj»ort  of  Christians ;  wrong  must  he  done  away  witii ; 
and  what  must  be  —  what  God  requires  to  be  —  that  certainly  will  be.  Now,  in  this 
age,  man  is  every  where  beginning  to  regard  the  sufferings  of  his  fellow-man  as  hia 
own.  There  is  an  interest  felt  in  man,  as  man,  which  was  not  felt  in  preceding  ages. 
The  facilities  of  communication  are  bringing  all  nations  in  contact,  and  whatever 
wrong  exists  in  any  part  of  the  world,  is  every  where  felt.  There  are  wrongs  and 
sufferings  every  where  }  but  those  to  which  we  are  accustomed,  we  look  upon  with 
most  indifference,  because  being  accustomed  to  them,  we  do  not  feel  their  enormity. 


INTIIODUCTORY.  XXxi 

You  feel  the  enormity  of  slavery  more  than  we  do,  because  you  are  not  immediately 
interested,  and  regard  it  at  a  distance.  We  regard  some  of  tlie  wrongs  that  exist  in 
the  old  world  witJi  more  sensibility  than  you  can  regard  them,  l)ecause  we  are  not  ac- 
customed to  tliem,  and  you  are.  Therefore,  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  love,  it  belongs 
to  Christian  men  to  speait  to  each  other  with  great  fidelity.  It  lias  been  said  that  you 
know  little  or  notliing  about  slaver)'.  O,  happy  men,  tliat  you  are  ignorant  of  its  enor- 
mities. [Hear,  Jiear  !]  But  you  do  know  something  about  it.  You  know  as  much  about 
it  as  you  know  of  the  widow-burning  in  India,  or  the  cannibalism  in  the  Fejee  Islands, 
or  any  of  those  crimes  and  sorrows  of  paganism,  that  induced  you  to  send  forth  your 
missionaries.  You  know  it  is  a  great  wrong,  and  a  terrible  obstacle  to  the  progress  of 
the  gospel ;  and  that  is  enough  for  you  to  know  to  induce  you  to  act.  You  have  as 
much  knowledge  as  ever  induced  a  Christian  community  in  any  part  of  the  world  to 
exert  an  influence  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  Slavery  is  a  relic  of  paganism,  of 
barbarism  ;  it  must  be  removed  by  Christianity  j  and  if  the  light  of  Christianity  shines 
on  it  clearly,  it  certainly  will  remove  it.  There  are  thousands  of  hearts  in  the  United 
States  that  rejoice  in  your  help.  Whatever  expressions  of  impatience  and  petulance 
you  may  hear,  be  assured  that  these  expressions  are  not  the  heart  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people.  [Cheers.]  A  large  proportion  of  tliat  country  is  free  from  slavery.  There 
is  an  area  of  freedom  ten  times  larger  than  Great  Britain  in  territory.*  [Cheers,] 
But  all  the  power  over  the  slave  is  in  the  hands  of  the  slaveholder.  You  had  a  power 
over  the  slaveholder  by  your  national  legislature  ;  our  national  legislature  has  no 
power  over  the  slaveholder.  All  the  legislation  that  can  in  that  country  be  brought  to 
bear  for  the  slave,  is  legislation  by  the  slaveholders  themselves.  There  is  where  the 
difficulty  lies.  It  is  altogether  by  persuasion.  Christian  counsel.  Christian  sympathy, 
Christian  earnestness,  that  any  good  can  be  effected  for  the  slave.  TJie  conscience  of 
the  people  is  against  the  system  —  the  conscience  of  the  people,  even  in  the  slavehold- 
ing  states;  and  if  we  can  but  get  at  the  conscience  without  exciting  prejudice,  it  will  tend 
greatly  towards  the  desired  effect.  But  this  appeal  to  the  conscience  must  be  uninter- 
mittent,  constant.  Your  hands  must  not  be  weary,  your  prayers  must  not  be  discon- 
tinued ;  but  every  day  and  every  hour  should  we  be  doing  something  towards  the  ob- 
ject. It  is  sometimes  said,  Americans  who  resist  slavery  are  traitors  to  tlieir  coun- 
try. No;  those  who  would  support  freedom  are  the  only  true  friends  of  their  country. 
Our  fathers  never  intended  slavery  to  be  identified  with  the  government  of  the  United 
States;  but  in  the  temptationsof  commerce  the  evil  was  overlooked  ;  and  how  changed 
for  the  worse  has  become  the  public  sentiment  even  within  the  last  thirty  or  forty 
years  !  The  enormous  increase  in  the  consumption  of  cotton  has  raised  enormously 
tho  market  value  of  slaves,  and  arrayed  both  avarice  and  political  ambition  in  defence 
of  slavery.     Instruct  the  conscience,  and  produce  free  cotton,  and  this  will  be  like 

•  This,  alas  I  is  no  longer  true.  By  the  recent  passage  of  the  infamous  Nebraska  bill,  this 
■whole  region,  with  the  exception  of  two  states  already  organized,  is  laid  open  to  slavery.  This 
faithless  measure  was  nobly  resisted  by  a  large  and  able  minority  in  Congress  —  lionor  to  them. 


XXXU  INTKODUCTORY. 

Cromwell's  exhortation  to  his  soldiers,  '  Tnist  in  God,  and  keep  your  poader  dry.*  " 
[Continued  cheers.] 

The  Rev.  Dn.  R.  Lee  tlieii  said  :  "I  am  quite  sure  that  ever>-  individual  here  re- 
sponds cordially  to  thuso  sentiments  of  respect  and  pratitiido  towards  our  honored 
guest  which  have  been  so  well  expressed  by  the  Lord  Provost  and  the  other  gentlemen 
who  have  addressed  us.  Wo  think  that  this  lady  has  not  only  laid  us  under  a  great 
obligation  by  giving  us  one  of  the  most  delightful  books  in  the  English  language,  but 
that  she  has  improved  us  as  men  and  as  Christians,  that  she  has  taught  us  the  value  of 
our  privileges,  and  made  us  more  sensible  than  we  were  before  of  the  obligation  which 
lies  ujK)!!  us  to  proniote  every  gooil  work.  I  have  been  requested  to  say  a  few  words 
on  the  degradation  of  American  slavery  ;  but  I  feel,  in  tho  presence  of  the  gentleman 
who  last  addressed  you,  and  of  those  who  are  still  to  address  you,  that  it  would  bo  al- 
most presumption  in  me  to  enter  on  such  a  subject.  It  is  impossible  to  speak  or  to  think 
of  the  subject  of  slavery  without  feeling  that  there  is  a  double  degradation  in  the  niat- 
ter ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  the  slave  is  a  man  made  in  the  image  of  God  —  God's  image 
cut  in  ebony,  as  old  Thomas  Fuller  quaintly  but  beautifully  said  ;  and  what  right  have 
we  to  reduce  him  to  the  image  of  a  brute,  and  make  projierty  of  him?  We  esteem 
drunkenness  as  a  sin.  Why  is  it  a  sin  f  Because  it  reduces  that  which  was  made  in 
the  image  of  God  to  the  imago  of  a  brute.  We  say  to  the  drunkard,  '  You  are  guilty 
of  a  sacrilege,  because  you  reduce  that  which  God  made  in  his  own  image  "  into  the 
image  of  an  irrational  creature."  '  Slavery  does  the  very  same.  But  there  is  not  only 
a  degradation  committed  as  regards  the  slave  —  there  is  a  degradation  also  conunitled 
against  himself  by  him  who  makes  him  a  slave,  and  who  retains  him  in  the  position 
of  a  slave  ;  for  is  it  not  one  of  the  most  commonplace  of  truths  that  we  cannot  do  a 
wrong  to  a  neighbor  without  doing  a  greater  wrong  to  ourselves  .'  —  that  we  cannot  in- 
jure him  without  also  injuring  ourselves  yet  more.'  I  observe  there  is  a  certain  class 
of  writers  in  America  who  are  fond  of  representing  the  feeling  of  this  country  towards 
America  as  one  of  jealousy,  if  not  of  hatred.  I  think,  my  lord,  that  no  American  ever 
travelled  in  this  country  without  being  conscious  at  once  that  this  is  a  total  mistake  — 
that  this  is  a  total  misajiprehension.  I  venture  to  say  that  there  is  no  nation  on  tho 
face  of  the  earth  in  which  we  feel  half  so  much  interest,  or  towards  which  wc  feel 
the  tenth  part  of  the  affection,  which  we  do  towards  our  brethren  in  the  United  States 
of  America.  And  what  is  more  than  that —  there  is  no  nation  towards  which  we  feci 
one  half  so  much  admiration,  and  for  which  we  feel  half  so  much  respect,  as  wc  do  for 
the  people  of  the  United  States  of  America.  [Cheers.]  Why,  sir,  how  can  it  be  other- 
wise ;  IIow  is  it  possible  that  it  should  bo  the  reverse  ?  Are  they  not  our  bone  and  our 
flesh.'  and  their  character,  whatever  it  is,  is  it  any  thing  more  than  our  own,  a 
little  exaggerated,  perhaps?  Their  virtues  and  their  vices,  their  fault.-:  and  their 
excellences,  are  jui;t  the  virtues  and  the  vices,  the  faults  and  tho  excellences,  of 
that  old  respectable  freeholder,  John  Bull,  from  whom  they  are  descended.  We  are 
not  much  surprised  that  a  nation  which  are  slaves  tiiemsolves  should  make  other  men 


INTRODUCTORY.  XXxili 

slaves.  This  cannot  verj'  much  surprise  us  :  but  we  are  both  surprised  and  we  are 
deeply  grieved,  that  a  nation  which  has  conceived  so  well  the  idea  of  freedom  —  a  na- 
tion which  has  preached  the  doctrines  of  freedom  with  such  boldness  and  such  fulness 
—  a  nation  which  lias  so  boldly  and  perfectly  realized  its  idea  of  freedom  in  every  other 
respect  —  should  in  this  only  instance  liave  sunk  so  completely  below  its  own  idea,  and 
forgetting  the  rights  of  one  class  of  their  fellow-creatures,  should  have  deprived  them  of 
freedom  altogether.  I  say  that  our  grief  and  our  disapprobation  of  this  in  the  case  of 
our  brethren  in  America  arises  very  much  from  this,  that  in  other  respects  we  admire 
them  so  miich,  we  are  sorry  that  so  noble  a  nation  should  allow  a  blot  like  this  to  re- 
main upon  its  escutcheon.  I  am  not  ignorant —  nobody  can  be  ignorant  —  of  the  great 
difficulties  which  encompass  the  solution  of  this  question  in  America.  It  is  vain  for 
us  to  shut  our  eyes  to  it.  There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  great  sacrifices  will 
require  to  be  made  in  order  to  get  rid  of  this  great  evil.  But  the  Americans  are  a 
most  ingenious  people  ;  they  are  full  of  inventions  of  all  sorts,  from  the  invention  of  a 
machine  for  protecting  our  feet  from  the  water,  to  a  machine  for  making  ships  go  by 
means  of  heated  air  ;  from  the  one  to  the  other  the  whole  field  of  discovery  is  occu- 
pied by  their  inventive  genius.  There  is  not  an  article  in  common  use  among  us  but 
bears  some  stamp  of  America.  We  rise  in  the  morning,  and  before  we  are  dressed  we 
have  had  half  a  dozen  American  articles  in  our  hands.  And  during  the  day,  as  we 
pass  through  the  streets,  articles  of  American  invention  meet  us  every-  where.  In 
short,  the  ingenuity  of  the  people  is  proclaimed  all  over  the  world.  And  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  moment  this  great,  this  ingenious  people  finds  that  slavery  is  both 
an  evil  and  a  sin,* their  ingenuity  will  be  successfully  exerted  in  discovering  some  in- 
vention for  preventing  its  abolition  from  ruining  them  altogether.  [Cheers.]  No 
doubt  their  ingenuity  will  be  equal  to  the  occasion  ;  and  I  may  take  the  liberty  of  add- 
ing, that  their  ingenuity  in  that  case  will  find  even  a  richer  reward  than  it  has  done  in 
those  otiier  inventions  which  have  done  them  so  much  honor,  and  been  productive  of 
so  much  profit.  I  say,  that  sacrifices  must  be  made  ;  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  that  j 
but  I  would  also  observe,  that  the  longer  the  evil  is  permitted  to  continue,  the  greater 
and  more  tremendous  will  become  the  sacrifice  which  will  be  needed  to  put  an  end  to 
it;  fur  all  history  proves  tliat  a  nation  encumbered  with  slavery  is  surrounded  with 
danger.  [Applause.]  Has  the  history  of  antiquity  been  written  in  vain  ?  Does  it  not 
teach  us  that  not  only  domestic  and  social  pollutions  are  the  inevitable  results,  but  does 
it  not  teach  us  also  that  political  insecurity  and  political  revolutions  as  certainly  slum- 
ber beneath  the  institutionof  slavery  as  fireworks  at  the  basis  of  Mount  .(Etna .'  [Cheers. J 
It  cannot  but  be  so.  Men  no  more  than  steam  can  be  compressed  without  a  tremen- 
dous revulsion;  and  let  our  brethren  in  America  be  sure  of  this,  that  tiie  lunger  the 
day  of  reckoning  is  put  off  by  them,  the  more  tremendous  at  last  that  reckoning  will 
be."  [Loud  applause.] 

****** 

In  regard  to  this  meeting  at  Edinburgh,  there  was  a  ridiculous  story  circulated  and  vari- 
VOL.    I.  d 


XXXIV  INTIiODUCTOUy. 

ously  conimciitcd  on  in  certain  newspapers  of  tlie  United  States,  tliat  the  American  Jlag 
teas  there  exhibited,  insulted,  torn,  and  mutilated.  Certain  religious  papers  t(K)k  the  lead 
in  propagating  llic  slander,  wliicii,  so  far  as  I  know  or  can  learn,  had  no  foundation,  un- 
less it  1)0  tliat,  in  the  arranging  of  tlic  tlag  around  its  statT,  the  stars  might  have  been 
more  distinctly  visible  than  the  stripes.  The  walls  were  profusely  adorned  with 
dra|KTy,  and  there  were  nunicnnis  flag-i  dis{)oscd  in  festoons.  Truly  a  wonderful  thing 
to  make  a  story  of,  and  then  |>arade  it  in  the  newspapers  from  Maine  to  Texas,  begin- 
ning in  Philadelphia ! 

PUBLIC   MEETING   IN   ABERDEEN  — April  21. 

ADDRESS   OF   THE   CITIZENS. 

Mns.  H.  Beecher  Stowe. 

Madam  :  The  citizens  of  Aberdeen  have  much  pleasure  in  embracing  the  oppor- 
tunity now  afforded  them  of  expressing  at  once  their  esteem  for  yourself  personally, 
and  their  interest  in  the  cause  of  which  you  have  been  the  distinguished  advocate. 

While  they  would  not  render  a  blind  homage  to  mere  genius,  iiowever  exalted,  they 
consider  genius  such  as  yours,  directed  by  Christian  principle,  as  that  which,  for  the 
welfare  of  humanity,  cannot  be  too  highly  or  too  fervently  honored. 

Without  depreciating  the  labors  of  the  various  advocates  of  slave  emancipation 
who  have  appeared  from  time  to  time  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  they  may  consci- 
entiously award  to  you  the  praise  of  having  brought  about  the  present  universal  and 
enthusiastic  sentiment  in  regard  to  the  slavery  which  exists  in  America. 

The  galvanic  battery  may  be  arranged  and  charged,  every  plate,  wire,  and  lliiid  being 
in  its  appropriate  i)lace  ;  but,  until  some  hand  shall  bring  together  the  extremities  of 
the  conducting  medium,  in  vain  might  we  expect  to  elicit  the  latent  fire. 

Every  heart  may  throb  with  the  feeling  of  benevolence,  and  every  mind  respond  to 
the  sentiment  that  man,  in  regard  to  man,  should  be  free  and  equal  ;  but  it  is  the  prov- 
ince of  genius  such  as  yours  to  give  unity  to  the  universal,  and  find  utterance  for  the 
felt. 

When  society  has  been  prepared  for  some  momentous  movement  or  moral  reforma- 
tiim,  so  that  the  hidden  thoughts  of  the  people  want  only  an  interpreter,  the  thinking 
community  an  organ,  and  suffering  humanity  a  champion,  distinguished  is  the  honor 
belonging  to  the  individual  in  whom  all  these  requisites  are  found  combined. 

To  you  has  been  assigned  by  Providence  tiie  important  task  of  educing  the  latent 
emotions  of  humanity,  and  waking  the  music  tliat  slumbered  in  tlie  chords  of  the  uni- 
ver-al  liunian  heart,  till  it  has  pealed  forth  in  one  deep  far  rolling  and  harmonious  an- 
them, of  whicli  the  heavenly  burden  is,  "  Liberty  to  the  ca|)tive,  and  the  opening  of  the 
prison  to  them  that  are  bound  I  " 

The  production  of  your  accomplished  pen,  which  has  already  called  forth  such  un- 


INTRODUCTORY.  XXXV 

qualified  eulogy  from  almost  every  land  where  Anglo-Saxon  literature  finds  access,  and 
created  so  sudden  and  fervent  an  excitement  on  tlie  momentous  subject  of  American 
slavery,  has  nowhere  been  hailed  with  a  more  cordial  welcome,  or  produced  more  salu- 
tary effects,  than  in  the  city  of  Aberdeen. 

Tliough  long  ago  imbued  with  antislavery  principles  and  interested  in  the  progress 
of  liberty  in  every  part  of  the  worhl,  our  community,  like  many  otiiers,  required  such 
information,  suggestions,  and  appeals  as  your  valuable  work  contains  in  one  great  de- 
partment of  slavery,  in  order  tliat  their  interest  might  be  turned  into  a  specific  direc- 
tion, and  their  principles  reduced  to  combined  practical  effort. 

Already  they  have  esteemed  it  a  privilege  to  engage  with  some  activity  in  the  pro- 
motion of  the  interests  of  the  fugitive  slave  j  and  they  shall  henceforth  regard  with  a 
deeper  interest  than  ever  the  movements  of  their  American  brethren  in  this  matter,  until 
tliere  exists  among  them  no  slavery  from  which  to  flee. 

While  they  participate  in  your  abliorrence  of  slavery  in  the  American  states,  they 
trust  they  need  scarcely  assure  you  that  they  participate  also  in  your  love  for  the  Ameri- 
can people. 

It  is  in  proportion  as  they  love  that  nation,  attached  to  them  by  so  many  ties,  that 
they  lament  the  existence  of  a  system  which,  so  long  as  it  exists,  must  bring  odium  upon 
the  national  character,  as  it  cannot  fail  to  enfeeble  and  impair  their  best  social  institu- 
tions. 

They  believe  it  to  be  a  maxim  that  man  cannot  hold  his  fellow-man  in  slavery  with- 
out being  himself  to  some  extent  enslaved.  And  of  this  the  censorship  of  the  press, 
together  with  the  expurgatorial  indices  of  various  religious  societies  in  the  Southern 
States  of  America,  furnish  ample  corroboration. 

It  is  hoped  that  your  own  nation  may  speedily  be  directed  to  recognize  you  as  its  best 
friend,  for  having  stood  forth  in  the  spirit  of  true  patriotism  to  advocate  the  claims  of  a 
large  portion  of  your  countrymen,  and  to  seek  the  removal  of  an  evil  which  has  done 
much  to  neutralize  the  moral  influence  of  your  country's  best  (and  otherwise  free)  in- 
stitutions. 

Accept,  then,  from  the  community  of  Aberdeen  their  congratulations  on  the  high 
literary  fame  which  yOu  have  by  a  single  effort  so  deservedly  acquired,  and  their  grate- 
ful acknowledgments  for  your  advocacy  of  a  cause  in  which  the  best  interests  of  hu- 
manity are  involved. 

Signed  in  name  and  by  appointment  of  a  public  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Aberdeen 
within  the  County  Buildings,  this  21st  April,  1853,  A.  D. 

GEO.   HESSAY, 

Provost  of  Aberdeen. 


XXXVl  INTRODUCTORY. 


PUBLIC   MEETING   IN  DUNDEE  — April  22. 

Mr.  GiLrii.LA.v,  who  was  rorcivcd  with  groat  applause,  said  he  had  been  intrusted 
by  the  Coniniitteo  of  the  Ladies'  Antislavcry  Association  to  present  the  following 
address  to  Mrs.  Stowe,  whicli  ho  would  read  to  the  meeting:  — 

"Madam:  We,  liie  ladies  of  tiie  Dundee  Antislavery  Association,  desire  to  add 
our  feeble  voices  to  the  acclamations  of  a  world,  conscious  that  your  fame  and  charac- 
ter need  no  testimony  from  ua.  We  are  less  anxious  to  honor  you  than  to  prove  that 
our  appreciation  and  respect  are  no  less  sincere  and  no  less  profound  than  those  of  the 
millions  in  other  places  and  other  lands,  whom  you  have  instructed,  improved,  de- 
li(.'hted,  and  thrilled.  We  beg  permission  to  lay  before  you  the  expressions  of  a  grati- 
tude and  an  enthusiasm  in  some  measure  commensurate  witli  your  transcendent  liter- 
ary merit  and  moral  worth.  We  congratulate  you  on  the  success  of  the  chcf-dPauvre 
of  your  genius,  a  success  altogether  unparalleled,  and  in  all  probability  never  to  be 
paralleled  in  the  history  of  literature.  We  congratulate  you  still  more  warmly  on  that 
nobility  and  benevolence  of  nature  which  made  you  from  childhood  the  friend  of  the 
unhappy  slave,  and  led  you  to  accumulate  unconsciously  the  materials  for  the  immor- 
tal talo  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin.  We  congratulate  you  in  having  in  that  tale  sup- 
ported with  matchless  eloquence  and  pathos  the  cause  of  the  crushed,  the  forgotten,  the 
injured,  of  those  who  had  no  help  of  man  at  all,  and  who  had  even  been  blasphemously 
taught  by  professed  ministers  of  tiie  gospel  of  mercy  that  Heaven  too  was  opposed  to 
their  liberation,  and  had  blotted  them  out  from  the  catalogue  of  man.  We  recognize, 
too,  with  delight,  the  spirit  of  enlightened  and  evangelical  |)iety  which  breathes 
through  your  work,  and  serves  to  confute  the  calunmy  that  none  but  infidels  are  inter- 
ested in  the  cause  of  abolition  —  a  calumny  which  cuts  at  Christianity  with  a  yet  sharfter 
edge  than  at  abolition,  but  which  you  have  proved  to  be  a  foul  and  malignant  false- 
hood. We  congratulate  you  not  only  on  the  richness  of  the  laurels  wliich  you  have 
won,  but  on  the  dignity,  the  meekness,  and  the  magnanimity  with  which  these  laurels 
have  been  worn.  We  hail  in  you  our  most  gifted  sister  in  the  great  cause  of  liberty  — 
we  bid  you  warmly  welcome  to  our  city,  and  we  pray  Almighty  God,  the  God  of  the 
oppressed,  to  pour  his  selectest  blessings  on  your  head,  and  to  spare  your  invaluable 
life,  till  yours,  and  ours,  and  others'  efforts  for  the  cause  of  abolition  are  crowned 
with  success,  and  till  the  shouts  of  a  universal  jubilee  shall  proclaim  tliat  in  all  quar- 
ters of  the  globe  the  African  is  free." 

The  address  was  handed  to  Mrs.  Stowe  amid  groat  applause.  Mr.  Gilfillan  con- 
tinued: "  In  addition  to  the  address  which  1  have  now  road,  I  have  been  requested 
to  add  a  few  remarks;  and  in  making  these  I  cannot  but  congratulate  Dundee  on  the 
fact  that  Mrs.  Stowe  has  visited  it,  and  that  she  has  had  a  reception  worthy  of  her 
distinguished  merits.  [Applause.]    It  is  not  Dundee  alone  that  is  present  here  to-night : 


INTRODUCTORY.  XXXVU 

it  is  Forfarshire,  Fifeshire,  and  I  may  also  add,  Perthshire :  —  that  are  here  to  do 
honor  to  themselves  in  doing  honor  to  our  illustrious  guest.  [Cheers.]  There  are  as- 
sembled here  representatives  of  the  general  feeling  that  boils  in  the  whole  land  —  not 
from  our  streets  alone,  but  from  our  country  valleys —  from  our  glens  and  our  moun- 
tains. O  !  I  wish  tiiat  Mrs.  Stowe  would  but  spare  time  to  go  herself  and  study  that 
enthusiasm  amid  its  own  mountain  recesses,  amid  the  uplands  and  tlie  friths,  and 
the  wild  solitudes  of  our  own  unconquered  and  unoonquerable  land.  She  would  see 
scenery  there  worthy  of  that  pencil  which  has  painted  so  powerfully  the  glories  of  the 
Mississippi ;  ay,  and  she  would  find  her  name  known  and  reverenced  in  every  hamlet, 
and  see  copies  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  in  the  shepherd's  shieling,  beside  Bunyan's 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  the  Life  of  Sir  William  Wallace,  Rob  Roy,  and  the  Gaelic 
Bible.  I  saw  copies  of  it  carried  by  travellers  last  autumn  among  the  gloomy  gran- 
deurs of  Glencoe,  and,  as  Coleridge  once  said  when  he  saw  Thomson's  Seasons 
lying  in  a  Welsh  wayside  inn,  '  That  is  true  fame,'  I  thought  this  was  fame  truer 
Btill.  [Applause.]  It  is  too  late  in  the  day  to  criticize  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  or  to 
speculate  on  its  unprecedented  history  —  a  history  which  seems  absolutely  magical. 
Why,  you  are  reminded  of  Aladdin's  lamp,  and  of  the  palace  that  was  reared  by 
genii  in  one  night.  Mrs.  Stowe's  genius  has  done  a  greater  wonder  than  this  —  it  has 
reared  in  a  marvellously  short  time  a  structure  which,  unlike  that  Arabian  fabric,  is  a 
reality,  and  shall  last  forever.  [Applause.]  She  must  not  be  allowed  to  depreciate  her- 
self, and  to  call  her  glorious  book  a  mere  '  bubble.'  Such  a  bubble  there  never  was 
before.  I  wish  we  had  ten  thousand  such  bubbles.  [Applause.]  If  it  had  been  a 
bubble  it  would  have  broken  long  ago.  'Man,'  says  Jeremy  Taylor,  'is  a  bubble.' 
Yes,  but  he  is  an  immortal  one.  And  such  an  immortal  bubble  is  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin  j  it  can  only  with  man  expire  ;  and  yet  a  year  ago  not  ten  individuals  in  this 
vast  assembly  had  ever  heard  of  its  author's  name.  [Applause.]  At  its  artistic  merits 
we  may  well  marvel  —  to  find  in  a  small  volume  the  descriptive  power  of  a  Scott,  the 
humor  of  a  Dickens,  the  keen,  obser\Mng  glance  of  a  Thackeray,  the  pathos  of  a  Rich- 
ardson or  Mackenzie,  combined  with  qualities  of  earnestness,  simplicity,  human- 
ity, and  womanhood  peculiar  to  the  author  herself.  But  there  are  three  things  which 
strike  me  as  peculiarly  remarkable  about  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  :  it  is  the  work  of 
an  American  —  of  a  woman— and  of  an  evangelical  Christian.  [Cheers.]  We  have 
long  been  accustomed  to  despise  American  literature  —  I  mean  as  compared  with  our 
own.  I  have  heard  eminent  litterateurs  say,  '  Pshaw !  the  Americans  have  no  na- 
tional literature.'  It  was  thought  that  they  lived  entirely  on  plunder  —  the  plunder 
of  poor  slaves,  and  of  poor  British  authors.  [Loud  cheers.]  Their  own  works,  when 
they  came  among  us,  were  treated  either  with  contempt  or  with  patronizing  wonder  — 
yes,  the  '  Sketch  Book  '  was  a  very  good  book  to  be  an  American's.  To  parody  two 
lines  of  Pope,  we 

'  Admired  such  wisdom  in  a  Yankee  shape. 
And  showed  an  Irving  as  they  show  an  ape.' 

d* 


XXXVUl  INTRODUCTORT. 

[Loud  cheers.]  And  yet,  'stranpe  to  tell,  not  only  of  late  have  we  been  aln>ost  deluged 
with  editions  of  new  and  excellent  American  writern,  but  the  most  |iii|)ular  book  of 
the  century  has  appeared  on  the  west  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Let  us  hear  no  more  of 
the  poverty  of  American  brains,  or  the  barrenness  of  American  literature.  Had  it 
produced  only  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  it  had  evaded  contempt  just  as  certainly  as  Don 
Quixote,  had  there  been  no  other  product  of  the  Spanish  mind,  would  have  rendered 
it  forever  illustrious.  It  is  the  work  of  a  woman,  too  !  None  but  a  woman  could 
liavc  written  it.  There  are  in  the  human  mind  springs  at  once  delicate  and  deep, 
wliich  only  the  female  genius  can  understand,  or  the  female  finger  touch.  Who  but  a 
female  could  have  created  the  gentle  Eva,  painted  the  capricious  and  selfish  Marie  St. 
Clair,  or  turned  loose  a  Topsy  upon  the  wondering  world  ?  [Loud  and  continued  cheer- 
ing.] And  it  is  to  my  mind  exceedingly  delightful,  and  it  must  be  humiliating  to  our 
opponents,  to  remember  that  the  severest  stroke  to  American  slavery  has  been  given  by 
a  woman's  hand.  [Loud  cheers.]  It  was  the  smooth  stone  from  the  brook  which, 
sent  from  the  hand  of  a  youthful  David,  overthrew  Goliath  of  Gath  ;  but  I  am  less  re- 
minded of  this  than  of  another  incident  in  Scripture  history.  When  the  robber  and 
oppressor  of  Israel,  Abimclcch,  who  had  slain  his  brethren,  was  rushing  against  a 
tower,  whither  his  enemies  had  fled,  we  are  told  that '  a  certain  woman  cast  a  piece  of 
a  millstone  upon  .Vbimclech's  head,  and  all  to  break  his  skull,'  and  that  he  cried 
hastily  to  the  young  man,  his  armor-bearer,  and  said  unto  him,  'Draw  thy  sword,  and 
slay  me,  that  men  say  not  of  me,  A  woman  slew  him.'  It  is  a  parable  of  our  pres- 
ent position.  Mrs.  Stowe  has  thrown  a  piece  of  millstone,  sjiarp  and  strong,  at  the 
skull  of  the  giant  abomination  of  her  country  ;  he  is  n-eiing  in  his  death  pangs,  and, 
in  tiie  fury  ofliis  despair  and  shame,  is  crying,  but  crying  in  vain,  '  Say  not.  A  woman 
slew  me  I'  [.Applause.]  But  the  world  shall  say,  '  A  woman  slew  him,'  or,  at  least, 
*  gave  him  the  first  blow,  and  drove  him  to  despair  and  suicide.'  [Cheers.]  Lastly, 'it 
is  the  work  of  an  evangelical  Christian  ;  and  the  piety  of  the  Ixxik  has  greatly  contrib- 
uted to  its  power.  It  has  forever  wiped  away  the  vile  calumny,  that  all  who  love  their 
African  brother  hate  their  God  and  Savior.  I  look,  indeed,  on  .Mrs.  Stowe's  vidume, 
not  only  as  a  noble  contribution  to  the  cause  of  emancipation,  but  to  the  general  cause 
of  Christianity.  It  is  an  olive  leaf  in  a  dove's  mouth,  testifying  that  the  waters  of 
Kcepticism,  which  have  rolled  more  fearfully  far  in  America  than  here,  —  and  no  won- 
der, if  the  Christianity  of  America  in  general  is  a  slaveholding,  man-stealing,  soul- 
murdering  Christianity  —  that  they  are  abating,  and  that  genuine  liberty  and  evan- 
gelical religion  are  soon  to  clasp  hands,  and  to  smile  in  unison  on  the  ransomed, 
regenerated,  and  truly  '  United  States.'     [Loud  and  reiterated  applause.]  " 


IXTRODUCTORY.  XXxix 


APDRESS  OF  THE  STUDENTS  OF  GLASGOW  UNI- 
VERSITY —  April  25. 

This  address  is  particularly  gratifying  on  account  of  its  recognition  of  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drinks  as  an  evil  analogous  to  slaveholding,  and  to  be  eradicated  by  simi- 
lar means.  The  two  reforms  are  in  all  respects  similar  movements,  to  be  promoted  in 
the  same  manner  and  with  the  same  spirit. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe. 

AIadam:  The  Committee  of  the  Glasgow  University  Abstainers' Society,  repre- 
senting nearly  one  hundred  students,  embrace  the  opportunity  which  you  have  so 
kindly  afforded  them,  of  expressing  their  high  esteem  for  you,  and  their  appreciation 
of  your  noble  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed.  They  cordially  join  in  the  welcome 
with  which  you  have  been  so  justly  received  on  these  shores,  and  earnestly  hope  and 
pray  that  your  visit  may  be  beneficial  to  your  own  health,  and  tend  greatly  to  the  fur- 
therance of  Christian  philanthropy. 

The  committee  h.ive  had  their  previous  convictions  confirmed,  and  their  hearts 
deeply  affected,  by  your  vivid  and  faithful  delineations  of  slavery;  and  they  desire  to 
join  with  thousands  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  who  offer  fervent  thanksgiving  to 
God  for  having  endowed  you  with  those  rare  gifts,  which  have  qualified  you  for  pro- 
ducing the  noblest  testimony  against  slavery,  next  to  the  Bible,  which  the  world  has 
ever  received. 

While  giving  all  the  praise  to  God,  from  whom  cometh  every  good  and  perfect  gift, 
they  may  be  excused  fur  mentioning  three  characteristics  of  your  writings  regarding 
slavery,  which  awakened  their  admiration  —  a  sensibility  befitting  the  anguish  of  suf- 
fering millions  ;  the  graphic  power  which  presents  to  view  the  complex  and  hideous 
system,  stripped  of  all  its  deceitful  disguises  ;  and  the  moral  courage  that  was  required 
to  encounter  the  monster,  and  drag  it  forth  to  the  gaze  and  the  execration  of  mankind. 

The  committee  feel  humbled  in  being  called  to  confess  and  deplore,  as  existing 
among  ourselves,  another  species  of  slavery,  not  less  ruinous  in  its  tendency,  and  not 
less  criminal  in  the  sight  of  God  —  we  mean  the  slavery  by  strong  drink.  We  feel  too 
much  ashamed  of  the  sad  preeminence  which  these  nations  have  acquired  in  regard  to 
this  vice  to  take  any  offence  at  the  reproaches  cast  upon  us  from  across  the  Atlantic. 
Such  smiting  shall  not  break  our  head.  We  are  anxious  to  profit  by  it.  Yet  when  it 
is  used  as  an  argument  to  justify  slavery,  or  to  silence  our  respectful  but  earnest  re- 
monstrances, we  take  exception  to  the  parallelism  on  which  these  arguments  are  made 
to  rest.  We  do  not  justify  our  slaverj'.  We  do  not  tiy  to  defend  it  from  the  Scrip- 
tures. We  do  not  make  laws  to  uphold  it.  The  unhappy  victims  of  our  slavery  have 
all  forged  and  riveted  their  own  fetters.    We  implore  them  to  forbear  j  but,  alas !  in 


Xl  INTRODUCTORY. 

many  cases  without  success.  We  invite  them  to  be  free,  and  offer  our  best  assistance 
to  undo  their  bonds,  Wlicn  a  fugitive  slave  knocks  at  our  door,  escaping  from  a  cruel 
master,  we  try  to  accost  him  in  the  spirit  or  in  the  words  of  a  well-known  philanthro- 
pist, *' Come  in,  brother,  and  get  warm,  and  get  thy  breakfast."  And  when  distin- 
guished American  philanthropists,  who  have  done  so  much  to  undo  the  heavy  burdens 
in  their  own  land,  come  over  to  assist  us,  wo  Jiail  their  advent  with  rejoicing,  and  wel- 
come them  as  benefactors.  We  are  well  aware  that  a  corresponding  feeling  would  be 
manifested  in  the  United  States  by  a  portion,  doubtless  a  large  portion,  of  the  popula- 
tion ;  but  certainly  not  by  those  who  justify  or  palliate  their  own  oppression  by  a  ref- 
erence to  our  lamentable  intemperance. 

We  rejoice,  madam,  to  know  that  as  abstainers  we  can  claim  an  important  place, 
not  only  in  your  sympathies,  but  in  your  literary  labors.  We  offer  our  hearty  thanks 
for  the  valuable  contributions  you  have  already  furnished  in  that  momentous  cause, 
and  for  the  efforts  of  that  distinguished  family  with  which  you  are  connected. 

We  bear  our  testimony  to  the  mighty  impulse  imparted  to  the  public  mind  by  the 
extensive  circulation  of  those  memorable  sermons  which  your  lionored  father  gave  to 
Europe,  as  well  as  to  America,  more  than  twenty-five  years  ago.  It  will  be  pleasing 
to  him  to  know  that  the  force  of  his  arguments  is  felt  in  British  universities  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  and  that  not  only  students  in  augmenting  numbers,  but  learned  professors, 
acknowledge  their  cogency  and  yield  to  their  power. 

Permit  us  to  add  that  a  movement  has  already  begun,  in  an  influential  quarter  in 
England,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  combining  the  patriotism  and  Christianity  of  these 
nations  in  a  strenuous  agitation  for  the  suppression,  by  Uie  legislature,  of  the  traffic  in 
alcoholic  drinks. 

In  conclusion,  the  committee  have  only  further  to  express  their  cordial  thanks  for  your 
kindness  in  receiving  their  address,  and  their  desire  and  prayer  that  you  may  be  long 
spared  to  glorify  God,  by  promoting  the  highest  interests  of  man  ;  that  if  it  so  please 
him,  you  may  live  to  see  the  glorious  fruit  of  your  labors  here  on  earth,  and  that  here- 
after you  may  meet  the  blessed  salutation,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of 
the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 

IS'ORMAN   S.   KERR,  Secretary.  STEWART   BATES,  PresidcnU 

Glasgow,  2oth  April,  1853. 

LORD    MAYOR'S    DINNER  AT   TITE    MANSION 
HOUSE,   LONDON  — May  2. 

Mr.  Justice  Talfourd,*  having  spoken  of  the  literature  of  England  and  America, 
alluded  to  two  distinguished  authors  then  present.  The  one  was  a  lady,  who  had 
shed  a  lustre  on  the  literature  of  America,  and  whoso  works  were  deeply  engraven 

•  This  most  learned  and  amiable  judge  reccutly  died,  while  in  tlic  very  oct  of  charging  a  jory. 


INTRODUCTORY.  xU 

on  every  English  heart.  He  spoke  particularly  of  the  consecration  of  so  much  genius 
to  so  noble  a  caus«  —  the  cause  of  humanity  ;  and  expressed  the  confident  hope  that 
the  great  American  people  would  see  and  remedy  the  wrongs  so  vividly  depicted. 
The  learned  judge,  having  paid  an  eloquent  tribute  to  the  works  of  Mr.  Charles 
Dickens,  concluded  by  proposing  "  Mr.  Charles  Dickens  and  the  literature  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons." 

Mr.  Charles  Dickens  returned  thanks.  In  referring  to  Mrs.  II.  B.  Stowe,  he 
observed  that,  in  returning  thanks,  he  could  not  forget  he  was  in  the  presence  of  a 
stranger  who  was  the  authoress  of  a  noble  book,  with  a  noble  purpose.  But  he  had 
no  right  to  call  her  a  stranger,  fur  she  would  find  a  welcome  in  every  English  home. 


STAFFORD   HOUSE  RECEPTION  —  May  7. 

The  Duke  of  Sutherland  having  introduced  Mrs.  Stowe  to  the  assembly,  the  fol- 
lowing short  address  was  read  and  presented  to  her  by  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  :  — 

"  Madam  :  I  am  deputed  by  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  and  the  ladies  of  the  two 
committees  appointed  to  conduct '  The  Address  from  the  Women  of  England  to  the 
Women  of  America  on  the  Subject  of  Slavery,'  to  express  the  high  gratification  they 
feel  in  your  presence  amongst  them  this  day. 

"  The  address,  which  has  received  considerably  more  than  half  a  million  of  the 
signatures  of  the  women  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  they  have  already  transmitted 
to  the  United  States,  consigning  it  to  the  care  of  those  whom  you  have  nominated  a3 
fit  and  zealous  persons  to  undertake  the  charge  in  your  absence. 

"The  earnest  desire  of  these  committees,  and,  indeed,  we  may  say  of  the  whole 
kingdom,  is  to  cultivate  the  most  friendly  and  aflectionate  relations  between  the  two 
countries  ;  and  we  cannot  but  believe  that  we  are  fostering  such  a  feeling  when  we 
avow  our  deep  admiration  of  an  American  lady  who,  blessed  by  the  possession  of  vast 
genius  and  intellectual  powers,  enjoys  the  still  higher  blessing,  that  she  devotes  thein 
to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  temporal  and  eternal  interests  of  the  human  race." 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  address  to  which  Lord  Shaftesbury  makes  reference :  — 
"  The  affectionate  and  Christian  Address  of  many  thousands  of  Women  of  Great  Britain 

and  Ireland  to  their  Sifters,  the  Women  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

"  A  common  origin,  a  common  faith,  and,  we  sincerely  believe,  a  common  cause, 
urge  us  at  the  present  moment  to  address  you  on  the  subject  of  that  system  of  negro 
slavery  which  still  prevails  so  extensively,  and  even  under  kindly-disposed  masters, 
with  such  frightful  results,  in  many  of  the  vast  regions  of  the  western  world. 

"We  will  not  dwell  on  the  ordinary  topics  — on  the  progress  of  civilization ;  on  the 
advance  of  freedom  every  where  ;  on  the  rights  and  requirements  of  the  nineteenth 
century  ;  but  we  appeal  to  you  very  seriously  to  reflect,  and  to  ask  counsel  of  God, 


Xlii  INTRODUCTORY. 

how  far  such  a  state  of  things  is  in  accordance  with  Iiis  holy  word,  the  inalienable 
rights  of  immortal  souls,  and  the  pure  and  merciful  njjirit  of  the  Christian  religion. 

"  VV'c  do  not  shut  our  eyes  to  the  difficulties,  nay,  the  dangers,  that  migiit  beset  the 
immediate  abolition  of  that  long-established  system  ;  we  see  and  admit  the  necessity 
of  preparation  for  so  great  an  event;  but  in  speaking  of  indispensable  preliminaries, 
we  cannot  be  silent  on  those  laws  of  your  countrj'  wliich,  in  direct  contravention  of 
God'a  own  law,  instituted  in  the  time  of  man's  innocency,  deny,  in  effect,  to  the  slave 
the  sanctity  of  marriage,  with  all  its  joys,  rights,  and  obligations  j  which  separate,  at 
the  will  of  the  master,  the  wife  from  the  husband,  and  the  children  from  the  parents. 
Nor  can  we  bo  silent  on  that  awful  system  which,  either  by  statute  or  by  custom, 
interdicts  to  any  race  of  men,  or  any  portion  of  the  human  family,  education  in  the 
truths  of  the  gospel,  and  tlie  ordinances  of  Christianity. 

"  A  remedy  applied  to  these  two  evils  alone  would  commence  the  amelioration  of 
their  sad  condition.  We  appeal  to  you,  then,  as  sisters,  as  wives,  and  as  mothers,  to 
raise  your  voices  to  your  fellow-citizens,  and  your  prayers  to  God,  for  the  removal  of 
this  affliction  from  the  Christian  world.  We  do  not  say  these  things  in  a  spirit  of 
self-complacency,  as  though  our  nation  were  free  from  the  guilt  it  perceives  in  others. 
We  acknowledge  with  grief  and  shame  our  heavy  share  iir  this  great  sin.  We 
acknowledge  that  our  forefathers  introduced,  nay,  compelled  the  adoption  of  slavery 
in  those  mighty  colonies.  We  humbly  confess  it  before  Almighty  God ;  and  it  la 
because  we  so  deeply  feel,  and  so  unfeignedly  avow,  our  own  complicity,  that  we  now 
venture  to  implore  your  aid  to  wipe  away  our  common  crime,  and  our  common  dis- 
honor." 

CONGREGATIONAL  UNION  — May  13. 

The  Rev.  John  Angell  James  said,  "  I  will  only  for  one  moment  revert  to  the 
resolution.*  It  does  equal  honor  to  the  head,  and  the  heart,  and  tiie  pen  of  the  man 
who  drew  it.  Beautiful  in  language,  Christian  in  spirit,  noble  and  generous  in  design, 
it  is  just  such  a  resolution  as  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  emanate  from  the  Congregational 
body,  and  find  its  way  across  the  Atlantic  to  America.  Sir,  wo  speak  most  power- 
fully, when,  though  we  speak  firmly,  wo  speak  in  kindness;  and  there  is  nothing 
in  that  resolution  that  can,  by  possibility,  offend  the  most  fastidions  taste  of  any  indi- 
vidual present,  or  any  individual  in  the  world,  who  takes  the  same  views  of  the  evil 
of  slavery,  in  itself,  as  we  do.  [Hear,  hear!]  I  shall  not  trespass  long  upon  the 
attention  of  this  audience,  for  we  are  all  impatient  to  hear  Professor  Stowe  speak  in 
his  own  name,  and  in  the  name  of  that  di>linguishcd  lady  whom  it  is  his  honor  and 
his  hai)piness  to  call  his  wife.     [Ixjuil  cheers.]     His  station   and  his  acquirements, 

•  Thig  resolution,  drawn  and  offered,  I  think,  by  my  hospitable  friend,  Mr.  Binnoy,  I  have 
mislaid,  and  cannot  find  It.  It  was,  however,  iu  character  and  spirit,  just  what  Mr.  James  here 
decLuci  it  to  be. 


INTRODUCTORY.  xliii 

his  usefulness  in  America,  his  connection  with  our  body,  his  representation  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  who  bore  the  light  of  Christianity  to  his  own  country,  all  make  him 
welcome  here.    [Cheers.]    But  he  will  not  be  surprised  if  it  is  not  on  hia  own  account 
merely  that  we  give  him  welcome,  but  also  on  account  of  that  distinguished  woman 
to  whom  so  marked  an  allusion  has  already  been  made.    To  her,  I  am  sure,  we  shall 
tender  no  praise,  except  the  praise  that  comes  to  her  from  a  higher  source  than  ours  ; 
from  One  who  has,  by  the  testimony  of  her  own  conscience,  echoing  the  voice  from 
above,  said  to  her,  '  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant.'  Long,  sir,  may  it  be  before 
the  completion  of  the  sentence  ;  before  the  welcome  shall  be  given  to  her,  when  she 
shall  hear  him  say, 'Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.'     [Loud  cheers.]     But, 
though  we  praise  her  not,  or  praise  with  chastened   language,  we   would  say, 
Madam,  we  do  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  our  hearts,  [Hear,  hear  !  and  immense 
cheering,]  for  rising  up  to  vindicate  our  outraged  humanity  ;  for  rising  up  to  expound 
the  principles  of  our  still  nobler  Christianitj'.     For  my  own  part,  it  is  not  merely  as  an 
exposition  of  the  evils  of  slavery  that  makes  me  hail  that  wondrous  volume  to  our 
country  and  to  the  world  ;  but  it  is  the  living  exposition  of  the  principles  of  the  gos- 
pel that  it  contains,  and  which  will  expound  those  principles  to  many  an  individual 
who  would  not  hear  them  from  our  lips,  nor  read  them  from  our  pens.    I  maintain, 
that  Uncle  Tom  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  imbodiments  of  the  Christian  religion 
that  was  ever  presented  in  this  worid.     [Loud  cheers.]    And  it  is  that  which  makes 
me  take  such  delight  in  it.    I  rejoice  that  she  killed  him.     [Laughter  and  cheers.] 
He  must  die  under  the  slave  lash—  he  must  die,  the  martyr  of  slavery,  and  receive 
the  crown  of  martyrdom  from  both  worlds  for  his  testimony  to  the  truth.     [Turning 
to  Mrs.  Stowe,  Mr.  James  continued  :]  May  the  Lord  God  reward  you  for  what  you 
have  done;   we  cannot,  madam— we  cannot  do  it.     [Cheers.]     We  rejoice  in  the 
perfect  assurance,  in  the  full  confidence,  that  the  arrow  which  is  to  pierce  tlie  system 
of  slavery  to  the  heart  has  been  shot,  and  shot  by  a  female  hand.    Right  home  to  the 
mark  it  will  go.     [Cheers.]     It  is  true,  the  monster  may  groan  and  struggle  for  a  long 
while  yet;  but  die  it  will;    die  it  must  — under  the  potency  of  that  book.     [Loud 
cheers.]    It  never  can  recover.    It  will  be  your  satisfaction,  perhaps,  in  this  world, 
madam,  to  see  the  reward  of  your  labors.     Heaven  grant  that  your  life  may  be  pro- 
longed, until  such  time  as  you  see  the  reward  of  your  labors  In  the  striking  off  of  the 
last  fetter  of  the   last  slave   that  still  pollutes   the  soil   of  your  beloved   country. 
[Cheers.]     For  beloved  it  is  ;  and  I  should  do  dishonor  to  your  patriotism  if  I  did  not 
say  it  — beloved  it  is  ;  and  you  are  prepared  to  echo  the  sentiments,  by  changing  the 
terms,  which  we  often  hear  in  old  England,  and  say,  — 

•America  !  with  all  thy  faults  I  love  thee  still! ' 

But  still  more  intense  will  be  my  affection,  and  pure  and  devoted  the  ardor  of  my 
patriotism,  when  this  greatest  of  all  thine  ills,  this  darkest  of  the  blots  upon  thine 
escutcheon,  shall  be  wiped  out  forever  "     [Loud  applause.] 


xliv  INTRODUCTOUr. 

The  Rev.  Professor  Stowe  rose  amid  loud  and  repeated  clieers,  and  said,  "  It  is 
extremely  painful  for  me  to  speak  on  the  subject  of  American  slavery,  and  especially 
out  of  the  borders  of  my  own  country.  [Hear,  hear!]  I  hardly  know  whether 
painful  or  plea.-.urablu  emotions  |)re(loniinatc,  when  I  look  uj)on  the  audience  to 
which  I  speak.  I  feel  a  very  near  athnity  to  the  Congregationalists  of  England,  and 
especially  to  the  Congregationalists  of  London.  [Cheers.]  My  ancestors  were  resi- 
dents of  London  ;  at  least,  from  the  time  of  Edward  II[. ;  they  lived  in  Cornhill  and 
Leadenhall  Street,  and  their  bones  lie  buried  in  the  old  church  of  St.  Andrew  Under- 
Shaft;  and,  in  the  year  1C32,  on  account  of  their  nonconformity,  they  were  obliged  to 
Beek  refuge  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts ;  and  I  have  always  felt  a  love  and  a  vener- 
ation for  the  Congregational  churches  of  England,  more  than  for  any  other  churches 
in  any  foreign  land.  [Cheers.]  I  can  only  hope,  that  my  conduct,  as  a  religious 
man  and  a  minister  of  Christ,  may  not  bring  discredit  upon  my  ancestors,  and  upon 
the  honorable  origin  which  I  claim.  [Hear!  and  cheers.]  I  wish  to  say,  in  the  first 
place,  that  in  the  United  States  the  Congregational  churches,  as  a  body,  are  free  from 
slavery.  [Cheers.]  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  a  Congregational  church  in  the 
United  States  in  which  a  member  could  openly  hold  a  slave  without  subjecting  him- 
self to  discipline.*  True,  I  have  met  with  churches  very  deficient  in  their  duty  on 
this  subject,  and  I  am  afraid  there  are  members  of  Congregational  churches  who  hold 
slaves  secretly  as  security  for  debt  in  the  Southern  States.  At  the  last  great  Congre- 
gational Convention,  held  in  the  city  of  Albany,  the  churches  took  a  step  on  the 
subject  of  slavery  much  in  advance  of  any  other  great  ecclesiastical  body  in  the 
country.  I  hope  it  is  but  tlie  beginning  of  a  scries  of  measures  that  will  eventuate  in 
the  separation  of  this  body  from  all  connection  with  slavery.  [Hear,  hear  I]  lam 
extensively  acquainted  with  the  United  States;  I  have  lived  in  different  sections  of 
them ;  I  am  familiar  with  people  of  all  classes,  and  it  is  my  solemn  conviction,  that 
nine  tenths  of  the  people  feel  on  the  subject  of  slavery  as  you  do ;  t  [cheers  ;]  per- 
haps not  so  intensely,  for  familiarity  with  wrong  deadens  the  conscience;  but  their 
convictions  are  altogether  as  yours  are  ;  and  in  the  slaveliolding  states,  and  among 
slaveholders  themselves,  conscience  is  against  the  system.  [Cheers.]  There  is  no 
legislative  control  of  the  sjibject  of  slavery,  e.xcept  by  slaveholding  legislators  them- 
selves. Congress  has  no  right  to  do  any  thing  in  the  premises.  They  violated  the 
constitution,  as  I  believe,  in  passing  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act.  [Cheers.]  I  do  not 
believe  they  had  any  right  to  pass  it.  [Hear,  hear!]  I  stand  here  not  as  the  repre- 
sentative-of  any  body  whatever.  I  only  represent  myself,  and  give  you  my  individifal 
convictions,  tliat  have  been  produced  by  a  long  and  painful  connection  with  the 

*  I  have  been  told  since  my  return,  that  there  are  gome  sl.nvcholdinp  Conijrrpationnl  churches 
in  thcsoufl);  but  tlicy  liiive  no  connection  with  onr  New  Knpliind  ehnrclics,  and  certainly  are 
Dot  pencrnlly  known  ns  Conprepationalists  distinct  from  the  rresbyteriana. 

t  This  has  always  been  supposed  and  claimed  in  the  Ihiitcd  States.  Now  the  time  h.as  come 
to  test  its  truth.  If  there  is  tliis  ontishivcry  feeling  in  nine  tenths  of  the  people,  the  impudent 
iniquity  of  the  Nel)raska  bill  will  call  it  forlli. 


INTRODUCTORY.  xlv 

subject.     [Hear,  hear!]     As  to  the  resolution,  I  approve  it  entirely.    Its  sentiment 
and  its  spirit  are  my  own.     [Cheers.]     At  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  which 
separated  tJie  colonies  from  the  mother  country,  every  state  of  the  Union  was  a 
Blaveholding  slate  ;    every  colony  was  a  slaveholding  colony ;    and  now  we  havs 
seventeen  free   states.     [Cheers.]      Slavery  has  been  abolished  in  one  half  of  the 
original  colonies,  and  it  was  declared  that  there  should  be  neither  slavery  nor  the 
slave  trade  in  any  territory  north  and  west  of  the  Ohio  River;  so  that  :ill  that  part  is 
entirely  free  from  actual  active  participation  in  this  curse,  laying  open  a  free  territory 
that,  I  think,  must  be  ten  times  larger  in  extent  than  Great  Britain.    [Loud  cheers.] 
The  State  of  Massachusetts  was  the  first  in  which  slavery  ceased.     How  did  it  cease  ? 
By  an  enactment  of  the  legislature  ?    Not  at  all.     They  did  not  feel  there  was  any 
necessity  for  such  an  enactment.    The  Bill  of  Rights  declared,  that  all  men  were 
born  free,  and  that  tiiey  had  an  equal  right  to  the  pursuit  of  happiness  and  the  acqui- 
sition of  property.     In  contradiction  to  that,  there  were  slaves  in  every  part  of  Massa- 
chusetts ;   and  some  philanthropic  individual  advised  a  slave  to  bring  into  court  an 
action  for  wages  against  his  master  during  all  his  time  of  servitude.    The  action  was 
brought,  and  the  court  decided  that  the  negro  was  entitled  to  wages  during  the  whole 
period.    [Cheers.]    That  put  an  end  to  slavery  in  Massachusetts,  and  that  decision 
ought  to  have  put  an  end  to  slavery  in  all  states  of  the   Union,  because  the  law 
applied  to  all.    They  abolished  slavery  in  all  the  Northern  States  — in  Maine,  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island  ;  and  it  was  expected  that  the 
whole  of  the  states  would  follow  the  example.    When  I  was  a  child,  I  never  heard 
a  lisp  in   defence  of  slavery.     [Hear,  hear,  hear !]     Every  body  condemned  it;   all 
looked  upon  it  as  a  great  curse,  and  all  regarded  it  as  a  temporary  evil,  which  would 
soon  melt  away  before  the  advancing  light  of  truth.     [Hear,  hear  •]     But  still  there 
was  great  injustice  done  to  those  who  had  been  slaves.     Every  body  regarded  the 
colored  race  as  a  degraded  race ;  they  were  looked  upon  as  inferior ;  they  were  not 
upon  terms  of  social  equality.    Tiie  only  thing  approaching  it  was,  that  the  colored 
children  attended  the  schools  with  the  white  children,  and  took  their  places  on  the 
same  forms ;  but  in  all  other  respects  they  were  excluded  from  the  common  advan- 
tages and  privileges  of  society.    In  the  places  of  worship  they  were  seated  by  them- 
selves ;  and  that  difference  always  existed  till  these  discussions  came  up,  and  they 
began  to  feel  mortified  at  their  situation  ;  and  hence,  wherever  they  could,  they  had 
worship  by  themselves,  and  began  to  build  places  of  worship  for  themselves  ;  and 
now  you  will  scarcely  find  a  colored  person  occupying  a  seat  in  our  places  of  worship. 
This  stain  still  remains,  and  it  is  but  a  type  of  the  feeling  that  has  been  generated  by 
slaver}'.    This  ought  to  be  known  and  understood,  and  this  is  just  one  of  the  out- 
droppings  of  that  inward  feeling  that  still  is  doing  great  injustice  to  the  colored  race  ; 
but  there  are  symptoms  of  even  that  giving  way. 

"  I  suppose  you  all  remember  Dr.  Pennington  —  [cheers]  —  a  colored  minister  of  grea^ 
talent  and  excellence  —  [Hear,  hear  !]  —  though  bom  a  slave,  and  for  many  years  was  a 

VOL.  I.  e 


Xlvi  INTRODUCTORY. 

fugitive  slave.  [Hear,  hear.]  Dr.  Penninpton  is  a  member  nf  tlin  prosliytery  of  New 
Yurk  ;  and  williiii  the  last  six  months  he  lias  been  chosen  modrralor  of  that  |iresbytery. 
[Loud  cheeru.]  He  lias  presided  in  tlint  capacity  at  tho  ordination  of  a  minister  to  one 
of  the  most  respectable  churches  of  that  city.  So  far  so  pood  —  we  rejoice  in  it,  and 
we  hope  that  the  same  sense  of  justice  which  has  brought  about  that  change,  so  that  a 
colored  man  can  be  moderator  of  a  Presbytery  in  the  city  of  New  York,  will  go  on,  till 
full  justice  is  done  to  these  people,  and  imtil  the  grievous  wrongs  to  which  tliey  have 
been  subjected  will  be  entirely  done  away.  [Cheers.]  But  still,  what  is  the  aspect 
which  the  great  American  nation  now  presents  to  the  Christian  world  ?  Most  sorry 
am  I  to  say  it;  but  it  is  just  this  —  a  Christian  republic  upholding  slavery  —  the  only 
great  nation  on  earth  that  does  uphold  it  —  a  great  Christian  republic,  which,  so  far  as 
the  white  people  are  concerned,  is  the  fairest  and  most  prosperous  nation  on  earth  — 
that  great  Christian  republic  using  all  the  power  of  its  government  to  secure  and  to 
shield  this  horrible  institution  of  negro  slavery  from  aggression;  and  there  is  no  sub- 
ject on  which  the  government  is  so  sensitive  —  there  is  no  institution  which  it  mani- 
fests such  a  determination  to  uphold.  [Hear,  hear !]  And  then  the  most  melancholy 
fact  of  all  is,  that  the  entire  Christian  church  in  that  republic,  with  few  exceptions,  are 
silent,  or  are  apologists  for  this  great  wrong.  [Hear,  hear !]  It  makes  my  heart  bleed 
to  think  of  it ;  and  there  are  many  praying  and  weeping  in  secret  places  over  this 
curse,  whoso  voices  are  not  heard.  There  is  such  a  pressure  on  the  subject,  it  is  so 
mixed  up  with  other  things,  tliat  many  sigh  over  it  who  know  not  what  to  say  or  what 
to  do  in  reference  to  it.  And  what  kind  of  slavery  is  it?  Is  it  like  the  servitude  under 
the  Mosaic  law,  which  is  brought  forward  to  defend  it?  Nothing  like  it.  Let  me  read 
you  a  little  extract  from  a  correspondent  of  a  New  York  paper,  writing  from  Paris.  I 
will  read  it,  because  it  is  so  graphic,  and  because  I  wish  to  show  from  what  sources 
you  may  best  ascertain  the  real  nature  of  American  slavery.  The  commercial  news- 
papers, published  by  slaveholders,  in  slaveholding  states,  will  give  you  a  far  more 
graphic  idea  of  what  slavery  actually  is,  than  you  have  from  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  ;  for 
there  the  most  horrible  features  are  softened.  This  writer  says,  '  And  now  a  word 
on  American  representatives  abroad.  I  have  already  made  my  complaint  of  the  trou- 
bles brought  on  Americans  hero  by  that  "  incendiary  "  book  of  Mrs.  Stowe's,  especially 
of  the  difficulty  we  have  in  making  the  French  understand  our  institutions.  But  there 
was  one  partially  satisfactory  way  of  answering  their  questions,  by  saying  that  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin  was  a  romance.  And  this  would  have  served  the  purpose  pretty  well, 
and  spared  our  blushes  for  the  model  republic,  if  the  slaveholders  themselves  would 
only  withhold  their  testimony  to  the  truth  of  what  we  were  willing  to  let  pass  as  fic- 
tion. But  they  are  worse  than  Mrs.  Stowe  herself,  and  their  writings  are  getting  to  bo 
quoted  here  quite  extensively.  The  Monileur  of  to-day,  and  another  widely-circulated 
journal  that  lies  on  my  table,  both  contain  extracts  from  those  extremely  incendiary 
periodicals.  The  J^ational  Intelligencer,  of  February  11,  and  Tli£  M  O.  Picayune,  of  Feb- 
ruary 17.    The  first  gives  an  auctioneer's  advertisement  of  the  sale  of-  a  negro  boy  of 


INTIIODUCTOKY.  xlvu 

eighteen  years,  a  negro  girl  aged  sixteen,  three  horses,  saddles,  bridles,  wheelbarrows," 
&;c.  Then  follows  an  account  of  the  sale,  which  reads  very  much  like  the  description, 
in  the  dramatic  feuilletons  here,  of  a  famous  scene  in  the  Case  de  VOude  Tom,  as 
played  at  the  Amhigu,  Comxque.  The  second  extract  is  the  advertisement  of  "  our  es- 
teemed fellow-citizen,  Mr,  M.  C.  G.,"  who  presents  his  "  respects  to  the  inhabitants  of 
O.  and  the  neighbouring  parishes,"  and  "  informs  them  that  he  keeps  a  fine  pack  of  dogs 
trained  to  catch  negroes,"  &c.  It  is  painful  to  think  that  there  are  men  in  our  country 
who  will  write,  and  that  there  are  others  found  to  publish,  such  tales  as  these  about 
our  peculiar  institution.  I  put  it  to  IMr.  G.,  if  he  thinks  it  is  patriotic.  As  a  "  fellow- 
citizen,"  and  in  his  private  relations,  G.  may  be  an  estimable  man,  for  auglit  I  know, 
a  Christian  and  a  scholar,  and  an  ornament  to  the  social  circles  of  O.  and  the  neigh- 
boring parishes.  But  as  an  author,  G.  becomes  public  property,  and  a  fair  theme  for 
criticism  ;  and  in  that  capacity,  I  say  G.  is  publishing  the  shame  of  his  country.  I  call 
him  G.,  without  the  prefatory  Mister,  not  from  any  personal  disrespect,  much  as  I  am 
grieved  at  his  course  as  a  writer,  but  because  he  is  now  breveted  for  immortality,  and 
goes  down  to  posterity,  like  other  immortals,  without  titular  prefix.'  [Cheers.]  Now, 
here  is  where  you  get  the  true  features  of  slavery.  What  is  the  reason  that  the  church- 
es, as  a  general  thing,  are  silent  — that  some  of  them  are  apologists,  and  that  some,  in 
the  extreme  Southern  States,  actually  defend  slavery,  and  say  it  is  a  good  institution, 
and  sanctioned  by  Scripture  ?  It  is  simply  this  —  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  slave 
system  J  and  whence  comes  that  overwhelming  power?  It  comes  from  its  great  influ- 
ence in  the  commercial  world.  [Hear !  ]  Until  the  time  that  cotton  became  so  exten- 
sively an  article  of  export,  there  was  not  a  word  said  in  defence  of  slavery,  as  far  as  I 
know,  in  the  United  States.  In  1818,  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  passed  reso- 
lutions unanimously  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  to  which  this  resolution  is  mildness  it- 
self} and  not  a  man  could  be  found  to  say  one  word  against  it.  But  cotton  became  a 
most  valuable  article  of  export.  In  one  form  and  another,  it  became  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  the  commercial  affairs  of  the  whole  country.  The  northern  manufacturers 
were  intimately  connected  with  this  cotton  trade,  and  more  than  two  thirds  raised  in 
the  United  States  has  been  sold  in  Great  Britain  ;  and  it  is  this  cotton  trade  that  supports 
the  whole  system.  That  you  may  rely  upon.  The  sugar  and  rice,  so  far  as  the  United 
States  are  concerned,  are  but  small  interests.  The  system  is  supported  by  this  cotton 
trade,  and  within  two  days  I  have  seen  an  article  written  with  vigor  in  tlio  Charleston 
Mercury,  a  southern  paper  of  great  influence,  saying,  that  the  slaveholders  are  becom- 
ing isolated,  by  the  force  of  public  opinion,  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  They  are  be- 
ginning to  be  regarded  as  inhuman  tyrants,  and  the  slaves  the  victims  of  their  cruelty ; 
but,  says  the  writer,  just  so  long  as  you  take  our  cotton,  we  shall  have  our  slaves. 
Now,  you  are  as  really  involved  in  this  matter  as  we  are  —  [Hear,  hear  I]  —  and  if  you 
have  no  other  right  to  speak  on  the  subject,  you  have  a  right  to  speak  from  being  your- 
selves very  active  participators  in  the  wrong.  You  have  a  great  deal  of  feeling  on  the 
subject,  honorable  and  generous  feeling,  I  know  — an  earnest,  philanthropic,  Christian 


xlviii  INTRODUCTORY. 

feeling;  but  if  y<»ii  liavo  nothing  to  (Ik,  that  fi-iling  will  all  evaimratc,  and  leave  an 
apathy  behind.  Saw,  iiurc  id  suniething  to  be  done.  It  may  bo  a  small  beginning, 
but,  as  you  go  forward,  rrovidtnre  will  dcvelo])  tiilior  plans,  and  the  more  you  do, 
the  further  you  will  see.  I  an>  happy  to  know  that  a  U-ginning  has  been  made. 
There  arc  indications  that  a  way  has  been  so  opened  in  providence  that  this  exigency 
can  be  met.  Within  the  last  few  years,  the  Chinese  have  begun  to  emigrate  to 
the  western  parts  of  the  United  Slates.  They  will  maintain  themselves  on  small 
wages;  and  wherever  they  come  into  actual  comjietilion  with  slave  labor,  it  cannot 
compete  with  them.  Very  many  of  the  slaveholders  have  spoken  of  this  as  a  very  re- 
markable indication.  If  slavery  had  been  confined  to  the  original  slave  states,  as  it 
was  intended,  slavery  could  not  have  lived.  It  was  the  intention  that  it  should  never 
go  beyond  those  boundaries.  Had  this  been  the  case,  it  would  increase  the  number 
of  slaves  so  nnich  that  they  would  have  been  valueless  as  articles  of  property.  1  n)ust 
say  this  for  America,  that  the  slaves  increase  in  the  slave  states  faster  than  the  white 
people ;  and  it  shows  that  their  physical  condition  is  better  than  was  that  of  tho 
slaves  at  the  West  Indies,  or  in  Cuba,  where  the  number  actually  diminished.  We 
must  have  more  slave  territories  to  make  our  slaves  valuable,  and  there  was  the  origin 
of  that  ini(piitou3  Mexican  war,  whereby  was  added  the  vast  territor>'  of  Texas  ;  and 
then  it  was  the  intention  to  make  California  a  slave  state  ;  but,  I  am  happy  to  say,  it  has 
been  received  into  the  Union  as  a  free  state,  and  God  grant  it  may  continue  so.  [Hear, 
hear!]  What  has  been  the  effect  of  this  expansion  of  slave  territory .''  It  has  doubled 
the  value  of  slaves.  Since  I  can  remember,  a  strong  slave  man  would  sell  for  about  four 
liundred  or  six  hundred  dollars  —  that  is,  about  one  hundred  pounds;  but  now,  during 
tho  present  season,  I  have  known  instances  in  which  a  slave  man  htis  been  sold  for 
two  hundred  and  thirty  pounds.  There  are  more  slaves  raised  in  Virginia  and  Mary- 
land than  they  can  use  in  those  states  in  labor,  and,  therefore,  they  sell  them  at 
one  hundred,  two  hundred,  or  three  Imndred  pounds,  as  the  case  may  be,  for 
cash.  All  that  Mrs.  Tyler  intimates  in  that  letter  al»ont  slavery  in  America,  and 
the  impression  it  is  calculated  and  intended  to  convey,  that  they  treat  their  slaves  so 
well,  and  do  not  separate  their  families,  and  so  forth,  is  all  mere  humbug.  [Laughter 
and  cheers.J  It  is  well  known  that  Virginia  has  more  profit  from  selling  negroes  than 
from  any  other  source.  The  great  sources  of  profit  are  tobacco  and  negroes,  and  they 
derive  more  from  the  sale  of  negroes  than  tobacco.  You  see  the  temptation  this  gives 
to  avarice.  Suppose  there  is  a  man  with  no  property,  except  fifteen  or  twenty  negro 
jnen,  whom  he  can  sell,  each  one  for  two  hundred  pounds,  cash ;  and  he  has  as  many 
negro  women,  whom  ho  can  sell  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  cash,  and  the 
children  for  one  hundred  pounds  each :  here  is  a  temptation  to  avarice ;  and  it 
is  calculated  to  silence  the  voice  of  conscience;  and  it  is  the  expansion  of  tho  slave 
territory,  and  the  immense  mercantile  value  of  the  cotton,  that  has  brought  so  pow- 
erful an  influence  to  bear  on  the  United  States  in  faror of  slavery.  [Hear,  hear.] 
Now,  as  to  free  labor  coming  into  competition  with  slave  labor :     Von  will  see,  that 


INTRODUCTORY.  xlix 

when  the  price  of  slaves  is  so  enormous,  it  requires  an  immense  outlay  to  stock  a  plan- 
tation. A  good  plantation  would  take  two  hundred  or  three  hundred  liands.  ]\ow, 
say  for  every  hand  employed  on  this  plantation,  the  man  must  pay  on  an  average  two 
hundred  pounds,  which  is  not  exorbitant  at  the  present  time.  If  he  has  to  pay  at 
this  rate,  what  an  immense  outlay  of  capital  to  begin  with,  and  how  great  the  inter- 
est on  that  sum  continually  accumulating!  And  then  there  is  the  constant  exposure 
to  loss.  These  plantation  negroes  are  very  careless  of  life,  and  often  cholera  gets 
among  them,  and  sweeps  off  twenty-five  or  thirty  in  a  few  days;  and  then  there  is  the 
underground  railroad,  and,  with  all  the  precautions  that  can  be  taken,  it  continues  to 
work.  And  now  you  see  what  an  nnmense  risk,  and  exposure  to  loss,  and  a  vast  out- 
lay of  capital,  there  is  in  connection  with  this  system.  But,  if  a  man  takes  a  cotton 
farm,  and  can  employ  Chinese  laborers,  he  can  get  them  for  one  or  two  shillings  a  day, 
and  they  will  do  the  work  as  well,  if  not  belter  than  negroes,  and  there  is  no  outlay  or 
risk.  [Hear,  hear!]  If  good  cotton  fields  can  be  obtained,  as  they  may  in  time,  here 
is  an  opening  which  will  tend  to  weaken  the  slave  system.  If  Christians  will  inves- 
tigate this  subject,  and  if  philanthropists  generally  will  pursue  these  inquiries  in  an 
honest  spirit,  it  is  not  long  before  we  shall  see  a  movement  throughout  the  civilized 
world,  and  the  upholders  of  slavery  will  feel,  where  they  feel  most  acutely  — in  their 
pockets.  Until  something  of  this  kind  is  done,  I  despair  of  accomplishing  any  great 
amount  of  good  by  simple  appeals  to  the  conscience  and  right  principle.  There  are  a 
few  who  will  listen  to  conscience  and  a  sense  of  right,  but  there  are  unhappily  only  a 
few.  I  suppose,  though  you  have  good  Christians  here,  you  have  many  who  will  put 
their  consciences  in  their  pockets.  [Hear,  hear!]  I  have  known  cases  of  this  kind. 
There  was  a  young  lady  in  the  State  of  Virginia  who  was  left  an  orphan,  and  she  had 
no  property  except  four  negro  slaves,  who  were  of  great  commercial  value.  She  felt 
that  slavery  was  wrong,  and  she  could  not  hold  them.  She  gave  them  their  freedom  — 
[cheers]  — and  supported  herself  by  teaching  a  small  school.  [Cheers,]  Now,  not- 
withstanding all  the  unfavorable  things  we  see  — notwithstanding  the  dark  cloud  that 
hangs  over  the  country,  there  are  hopeful  indications  that  God  has  not  forgotten  us, 
and  that  he  will  carry  on  this  work  till  it  is  accomplished.  [Hear !]  But  it  will  be  a 
long  while  first,  I  fear;  and  we  must  pray,  and  labor,  and  persevere;  for  he  that  per- 
severes to  the  end,  and  he  only,  receives  the  crown.  Now,  there  are  very  few  in  the 
United  States  who  undertake  to  defend  slavery,  and  say  it  is  right.  But  the  great  ma- 
jority, even  of  professors  of  religion,  unite  to  shield  it  from  aggression.  '  It  is  the  law 
of  the  land,'  they  say,  '  and  we  must  submit  to  it.'  It  seems  a  strange  doctrine  to 
come  from  the  lips  of  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans,  those  who  resisted  the  law  of  the 
land  because  those  laws  were  against  their  conscience,  and  finally  went  over  to  that 
new  world,  in  order  that  they  might  enjoy  the  rights  of  conscience,  flow  would  it 
have  been  with  the  primitive  church  if  this  doctrine  had  prevailed?  There  never 
would  have  been  any  Christian  church,  for  that  was  against  the  laws  of  the  land.  In 
regard  to  the  distribution  of  the  Bible,  in  many  states  the  laws  prohibit  the  teaching  of 

e  * 


1  INTRODUCTORY. 

filaves,  ariil  the  distribution  of  the  Dible  is  not  allowed  among  tlicin.  The  American 
Bible  Society  does  not  itself  take  the  responsibility  of  this.  It  leaves  the  whole  matter 
to  the  local  societies  in  the  several  states,  and  if  is  the  local  societies  that  take  the  respon- 
Bibility.  Well,  why  should  we  obey  the  law  «if  the  land  in  South  Carolina  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  disol)ey  the  law  of  the  land  in  Italy?  But  our  missionary  Rocieties  and  Bible 
societies  send  Bibles  to  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  never  ask  if  it  is  contrarj'  to  the  law 
of  these  laniis  ,  and  if  it  is.  they  push  it  all  the  more  zealously.  They  send  Bibles  to 
Italy  and  Spain,  and  yet  the  Bible  is  prohibited  by  those  governments.  The  American 
Tract  Society  and  the  American  Sunday  School  Union  allow  none  of  their  issues  to 
utter  a  syllable  apainst  slavery.  They  expunge  even  from  their  European  books  every 
irassago  of  this  kind,  and  excuse  themselves  by  the  law  and  the  public  sentiment.  So 
are  the  people  taught.  There  has  been  a  great  deal  said  on  the  subject  of  influence 
from  abroad;  but  those  who  talk  in  that  way  interfered  with  the  persecution  of  the 
Madiai,  and  remonstrated  with  the  Tuscan  government.  We  have  had  large  meetings 
on  the  subject  in  Now  York,  and  those  who  refuse  the  Bible  to  the  slave  tot)k  part  in 
that  meeting,  and  did  not  seem  to  think  there  was  any  inconsistency  in  their  conduct. 
"The  Christian  church  knows  no  distinction  of  nations.  In  that  church  there  is 
neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  nor  free,  but  all  are  one  in  CIrrist  ; 
and  whatever  affects  one  part  of  the  body  affects  the  other,  and  the  whole  Christian 
church  every  where  is  bound  to  help,  and  encourage,  and  rebuke,  as  the  case  may  re- 
quire. The  Christian  church  is  every  wiiere  bound  to  its  correspondmg  branch  in 
every  other  country  ;  and  thus  you  have,  not  only  a  right,  but  it  is  your  duty,  to  consid- 
er the  case  of  the  American  slave  with  just  the  same  interest  with  which  you  consider 
the  cause  of  the  native  Hindoo,  when  you  send  out  your  missionaries  there,  or  witli 
which  you  consider  Madagascar ;  and  to  express  yourselves  in  a  Christian  spirit,  and 
in  a  Christian  way  continually,  till  you  see  that  your  admonitions  liave  had  a  suitable 
influence.  I  do  not  doubt  what  you  say,  that  you  will  receive  with  great  pleasure  men 
who  come  from  the  United  States  to  promote  the  cause  of  temperance,  and  you  may 
have  the  opportunity  of  showing  your  sincerity  l)cfore  long  ;  and  the  manner  in  «  liich 
you  receive  them  will  have  a  very  imj)ortant  bearing  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  [Cheers.] 
I  have  not  tlio  least  doubt  you  will  hail  with  joy  those  who  will  come  across  the  At- 
lantic to  advance  and  promote  still  more  earnestly  those  noble  institutions,  the  ragged 
schools  and  the  ragged  churches.  [Cheers.]  The  men  wlio  want  to  do  good  at  homo 
are  the  men  who  do  good  abroad  ;  and  the  sauic  spirit  of  Christian  libcralit}'  that  leads 
you  to  feel  for  the  American  slave  will  lead  you  to  care  for  your  own  poor,  and  those 
in  adverse  circumstances  in  your  own  land.  I  would  ask,  Is  it  possible,  then,  that  ad- 
iniihition  and  reproof  given  in  a  Christian  spirit,  and  by  a  Christian  heart,  can  fail  to 
produce  a  ri*;!)!  influeiire  on  a  Christian  spirit  and  a  Christian  heart  ?  I  think  the  thing 
is  utterly  iui|><issil)le  ;  and  that  if  sueli  admonitions  as  are  contained  in  the  resolution, 
conceived  in  such  a  spirit,  and  so  kindly  ex|)ressed  —  if  they  are  not  received  in  a 
Cluistian  spirit,  it  is  because  the  Christian  spirit  has  unlia|i]iily  fled.     I  can  answer  for 


INTRODUCTORY.  U 

myself,  at  least,  and  many  of  my  brethren,  that  it  will  be  so  j  and,  so  far  from  desiring 
you  to  witbliold  your  expressions  on  account  of  any  bad  feeling  that  they  might  excite,  I 
wish  you  to  reiterate  them,  and  reiterate  them  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  tiiey  are 
given  in  this  resolution  ;  for  I  believe  that  these  expressions  of  impatience  and  petu- 
lance represent  the  feelings  of  very  few.  Who  is  it  that  always  speaks  first  ?  The 
angry  man,  and  it  comes  out  at  once  ;  but  the  wise  man  keeps  it  in  till  afterwards  ;  and 
it  will  not  be  long  before  you  will  find,  that  whatever  you  say  in  a  CJiristian  spirit  will 
be  responded  to  on  the  other  side  of  the  water.  Now,  I  believe  our  churches  have 
neglected  their  duty  on  this  subject,  and  are  still  neglecting  it.  Many  do  not  seem  to  know 
what  tiieir  duty  is.  Yet  I  believe  them  to  be  good,  conscientious  men,  and  men  who  will 
do  their  duty  when  they  kimw  what  it  is.  Take,  for  example,  the  American  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions.  There  are  not  better  men,  or  more  conscientious  men,  on  the  face 
of  the  earth,  or  men  more  sincerely  desirous  of  doing  their  duty  ;  yet,  in  some  things, 
I  believe  they  are  mistaken.  I  think  it  would  be  better  to  throw  over  the  very  few 
churches  connected  with  the  Board  which  are  slaveholding,  than  to  endeavor  to  sus- 
tain them,  and  to  have  all  this  pressure  of  responsibility  still  upon  them.  But 
yet  they  are  pursuing  the  course  which  they  conscientiously  think  to  be  right. 
Christian  admonition  will  not  be  lost  upon  them.*  I  will  say  the  same  of 
the  American  Home  Missionary  Society.  They  have  little  to  do  with  slavery,  as  I 
have  already  remarked.  Many  think  they  ought  not  to  say  any  tiling  upon  the  sub- 
ject, because  they  cannot  do  so  without  weakening  their  influence.  But  then  this 
question  comes  :  If  good  men  do  not  speak,  who  will  ?  — [Hear,  hear  IJ  —  and,  as  our 
Savior  said  in  regard  to  the  children  that  shouted,  Hosannah,  '  If  these  should  hold 
their  peace,  the  stones  would  immediately  cry  out.'  It  is  in  consequence  of  their  si- 
lence that  stones  have  begun  to  crj'  out,  and  they  rebuke  the  silence  and  apathy  of 
good  men  ;  and  this  is  made  an  argument  against  religion,  which  has  had  effect  with 
unthinking  people ;  so  I  think  it  absolutely  necessary  that  men  in  the  church,  on  that 
very  ground,  should  speak  out  their  mind  on  this  great  subject  at  whatever  risk  — 
[cheers]  —  and  they  must  take  the  consequences.  In  due  time  God  will  prosper  the 
right,  and  in  due  time  the  fetters  will  fall  from  every  slave,  and  the  black  man  will 
have  the  sauje  privileges  as  the  white.  [Applause.]" 

*  Eight  j'ears  ago  I  conscientiously  approved  and  zealously  defended  this  course  of  the  Amer- 
ican Beard.  Subsequent  events  [have  satisfied  me,  that,  in  the  present  circumstances  of  our 
country,  making  concessions  to  slaveholders,  however  slightly,  and  with  whatever  motives,  CTea 
if  not  wrong  in  principle,  is  productive  of  no  good.  It  does  but  strengthen  slavery,  and  makes 
its  demands  still  more  exorbitant,  and  neutralizes  the  power  of  gospel  truth. 


lu 


INTRODUCTORY. 


liOYAL  HIGHLAND  SCHOOL  SOCIETY  DINNER, 
AT  THE  FREEMASON'S  TAVERN,  LONDON  — 
May  14. 

The  Chairman,  Sir  Ahchidald  Aliso:*,  gave  "The  health  of  lier  Grace  the 
Duchesd  of  Sutlierland,  and  tlie  noble  patronesses  of  the  Society,"  which  was  received 
with  great  applause.  It  was  extremely  gratifying,  he  said,  to  find  a  lady,  belonging  to  one 
of  the  most  ancient  and  noblest  families  of  the  kingdom,  displaying  so  great  an  interest 
in  their  institution.  [Cheers.]  Not  the  least  of  their  obligations  to  her  Grace  was  the 
opportunity  she  had  given  them  to  offer  their  respects  to  a  lady,  remarkable  alike  for 
her  genius  and  her  philanthropy,  who  had  come  from  across  the  Atlantic,  and  who,  by 
her  philanthropic  exertions  in  the  cause  of  negro  emancipation,  had  enlisted  the  feel- 
ings and  called  forth  the  sympathies  of  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  on  both  sides 
of  the  ocean.  [Tremendous  clieering.]  She  had  shown  that  the  genius,  and  talents, 
and  energies,  which  such  a  cause  insjiired,  iiad  created  a  species  of  freemasonry 
throughout  the  world  ;  it  had  set  aside  nationalities,  and  bound  two  nations  together 
which  the  broad  Atlantic  could  not  sever  j  and  treated  a  union  of  sentiment  and  pur- 
pose which  he  trusted  would  continue  till  the  great  work  of  negro  emancipation  had 
been  finally  accomplished.  [Cheers.] 

Professor  Stowe  responded  to  the  allusion  which  had  been  made  to  Mrs.  Stowe,  and 
was  greeted  with  hearty  applause.  He  said  he  had  read  in  his  childhood  the  writings 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  thus  became  intensely  interested  in  all  that  pertained  to 
Scotland.  [Cheers.]  He  had  read,  more  recently,  his  Life  of  Napoleon,  and  also  Sir 
Archibald  Alison's  History  of  Europe.  [Protracted  cheers.]  But  he  certainly  never 
expected  to  be  called  upon  to  address  such  an  assembly  as  that,  and  under  such  cir- 
cumstances. Nothing  could  exceed  the  astonishment  which  was  felt  by  himself  and 
Mrs.  Stowe  at  the  cordiality  of  their  reception  in  every  part  of  Great  Britain,  from 
|)ersons  of  every  rank  in  life.  [Cheers.]  Every  body  seemed  to  have  read  her  book. 
[Hear,  hear!  and  loud  cheers.]  Everyone  seemed  to  have  been  deeply  interested, 
[cheers,]  and  disposed  to  return  a  full-hearted  homage  to  the  writer.  But  all  she 
claimed  credit  for  was  truth,  and  honesty,  and  earnestness  of  purpose.  He  had  only 
to  add  that  he  cordially  thanked  the  Royal  Highland  School  Society  for  the  kindness 
wliirli  induced  them  to  invito  him  and  Mrs.  Stowe  to  be  present  that  evening.  [Cheers.] 
The  work  in  which  the  society  was  engaged  was  one  that  they  both  held  dear,  and  in 
which  tlipy  felt  the  deepest  interest,  inasmuch  as  that  object  was  to  promote  the  edu- 
cation of  youth  among  tJiose  whose  poverty  rendered  them  unable  to  provide  the 
means  of  education  for  themselves.  [Hear,  hear !]  In  such  works  as  that  they  had 
themselves  for  most  of  their  lives  been  diligently  engaged.    [Cheers.] 


INTRODUCTORY.  liii 


ANTISLAVERY  SOCIETY,  EXETER  HALL— May  16. 

The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  who,  on  coming  forward  to  open  the  proceedings,  was 
received  with  much  applause,  spoke  as  follows:  "We  are  assembled  here  this  night 
to  protest,  with  the  utmost  intensity,  and  with  all  the  force  which  language  can  com- 
mand, against  the  greatest  wrong  that  the  wickedness  of  man  ever  perpetrated  upon 
his  fellow-man  —  [loud  cheers]  —  a  wrong  which,  great  in  all  ages  —  great  in  lieathen 
times  —  great  in  all  countries  —  great  even  under  heathen  sentiments  —  is  indescriba- 
bly monstrous  in  Christian  days,  and  exercised  as  it  is,  not  unfrequently,  over  Christian 
people.  [Hear  !]  It  is  surely  remarkable,  and  exceedingly  disgraceful  to  a  century 
and  a  generation  so  boastful  of  its  progress,  and  of  the  institution  of  so  many  Bible  so- 
cieties, witii  so  many  professions  and  preachments  of  Christianity  —  with  so  many  dec- 
larations of  the  spiritual  value  of  man  before  God  —  after  so  many  declarations  of  this 
equality  of  every  man  in  the  sight  of  his  fellow-man  —  that  we  should  be  assembled 
here  this  evening  to  protest  against  the  conduct  of  a  mighty  and  a  Protestant  people, 
who,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Romish  Babylon,  which  they  had  renounced,  resort  to  her 
most  abominable  practices  —  making  merchandise  of  the  temples  of  God,  and  traffick- 
ing in  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  [Cheers.]  We  are  not  here  to  proclaim  and  main- 
tain our  own  immaculate  purity.  We  are  not  here  to  stand  forward  and  say,  '  I  am 
holier  than  thou.'  We  have  confessed,  and  that  openly,  and  freely,  and  unreservedly, 
our  share,  our  heavy  share,  in  by-gone  days,  of  vast  wickedness ;  we  have,  we  declare 
it  again,  and  we  had  our  deep  remorse.  We  sympathize  with  the  preponderating  bulk 
of  the  American  people;  we  acknowledge  and  we  feel  the  difficulties  which  beset 
them ;  we  rejoice  and  we  believe  in  their  good  intentions  ;  but  we  have  no  patience  — 
I  at  least  have  none  —  with  those  professed  leaders,  be  they  political  or  be  they  cleri- 
cal, who  mislead  the  people  —  with  those  who,  blasphemously  resting  slavery  on  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  desecrate  their  pulpits  by  the  promulgation  of  doctrines  better  suited 
to  the  synagogue  of  Satan  —  [cheers] — nor  with  that  gentleman  who,  the  greatest 
officer  of  tlie  greatest  republic  in  the  whole  world,  in  pronouncing  an  inaugural  ad- 
dress to  the  assembled  multitudes,  maintains  the  institution  of  slavery ;  and  —  will  you 
believe  it?  —  invokes  the  Almighty  God  to  maintain  those  rights,  and  thus  sanction  the 
violation  of  his  own  laws! — [Cries  of  'Shame!']  This  is,  indeed,  a  dismal  pros- 
pect for  those  who  tremble  at  human  power  j  but  we  have  this  consolation  :  Is  it  not 
said  that,  '  When  the  enemy  shall  come  in  like  a  flood,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  lift 
up  a  standard  against  him?'  [Hear,  hear!]  He  has  done  so  now,  and  a  most  won- 
derful and  almost  inspired  protector  has  arisen  for  the  suffering  of  this  much  injured 
race.  [Loud  cheers.]  Feeble  as  her  sex,  but  irresistible  as  virtue  and  as  truth,  she 
will  prove  to  her  adversary,  and  to  ours,  that  such  boasting  shall  not  be  for  his  honor, 
*  for  the  Lord  will  sell  Sisera  into  the  hands  of  a  woman.'  [Hear,  hear !  and  loud  cheers.] 


liV  INTRODUCTOKY. 

Now,  I  ask  you  tl)is :  Is  tlicre  one  of  you  who  believes  that  llie  statements  of  that  mar- 
vellous book  to  which  we  have  alluded  present  an  exaggerated  picture?  —  [Tremen- 
dous cries  of  ♦  No,  no.'J  Do  they  not  know,  say  what  they  will,  that  the  truth  is  not 
fully  stated?  [Hear,  hear!]  The  reality  is  worse  than  the  fiction.  [Hear,  hear  I] 
Diit,  apart  from  this,  there  is  our  solemn  declaration  that  the  vileness  of  the  principle  is 
at  once  exhibited  in  the  mere  notion  of  slaven.',  and  the  atrocities  of  it  are  the  natural 
and  almost  inevitable  consequences  of  the  profession  and  exercise  of  absolute  and  irre- 
sponsible power.  [Hear,  hear !]  But  do  you  doubt  the  fact  ?  Look  to  the  document. 
I  will  quote  to  you  from  this  book.  I  have  never  read  any  thing  more  strikingly  illus- 
trative or  condemnatory  of  the  system  we  are  here  to  denounce.  Here  is  the  judgment 
pronounced  by  one  of  the  judges  in  North  Carolina.  It  is  impossible  to  read  this  judg- 
ment, however  terrible  the  conclusion,  without  feeling  convinced  thcit  the  man  who 
pronounced  it  was  a  man  of  a  great  mind,  and,  in  spite  of  the  law  lie  was  bound  to  ad- 
minister, a  man  of  a  great  heart.  [Hear,  hear!]  Hear  what  he  says.  The  case  waa 
this  :  It  was  a  '  case  of  appeal,'  in  which  the  defendant  had  hired  a  slave  woman 
for  a  year.  During  this  time  she  committed  some  slight  offence,  for  which  the  defend- 
ant undertook  to  chastise  her.  After  doing  so  he  shot  at  her  as  she  was  running  away. 
The  question  then  arose,  was  he  justified  in  using  that  amount  of  coercion  ?  and 
whether  the  privilege  of  shooting  was  not  confined  to  the  actual  proprietor?  The  case 
%vas  argued  at  some  length,  and  the  court,  in  pronouncing  judgment,  began  by  deplor- 
ing that  any  judge  should  ever  be  called  upon  to  decide  such  a  case,  but  he  had  to  ad- 
minister the  law,  and  not  to  make  it.  The  judge  said,  'With  whatever  reluctance, 
therefore,  the  court  is  bound  to  express  the  opinion,  that  the  dominion  over  a  slave  in 
Carolina  has  not,  as  it  has  been  argued,  any  analogy  with  the  authority  of  a  tutor  over 
a  pupil,  of  a  master  over  an  apprentice,  or  of  a  parent  over  a  child.  The  court  does  not 
recognize  these  applications.  There  is  no  likeness  between  them.  They  are  in  oppo- 
sition to  each  other,  and  there  is  an  impassable  gulf  between  them.  The  difierence  is 
that  which  exists  between  freedom  and  slaverj'  —  [Hear,  hear!]  — and  a  greater  differ- 
ence cannot  be  imagined.  In  the  one  case,  the  end  in  view  is  the  happiness  of  the 
j'outh,  born  to  equal  rights  with  the  tutor,  whose  duty  it  is  to  train  the  young  to  useful- 
ness by  moral  and  intellectual  instruction.  If  they  will  not  suffice,  a  moderate  chas- 
tisement may  bo  administered.  But  with  slavery  it  is  far  otherwise.'  Mark  these 
words,  for  they  contain  the  whole  thing.  '  But  with  slavery  it  is  far  otherwise.  The 
end  is  the  profit  of  the  master,  and  the  poor  object  is  one  doomed,  in  his  own  person, 
and  in  his  posterity,  to  live  without  knowledge,  and  without  capacity  to  attain  any 
thing  which  he  may  call  his  own.  He  has  only  to  labor,  that  another  may  reap  the 
fruits.'  [Hear,  hear!]  Mark!  this  is  from  the  sacred  bench  of  justice,  pronounced 
by  one  of  the  first  intellects  in  America !  '  There  is  nothing  else  which  can  operate  to 
produce  the  efTect;  the  power  of  the  master  must  be  absolute,  to  render  the  submission 
of  the  slave  perfect.  [Hear,  hear!]  It  is  inherent  in  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave ; '  and  then  he  adds  those  never-to-be-forgotten  words,  « We  cannot  allow  the 


INTEODUCTORY.  Iv 

right  of  the  master  to  como  under  discussion  in  the  courts  of  justice.  The  slave  nuist 
be  made  sensible  that  there  is  no  appeal  from  his  master,  and  tliat  his  master's  power 
is  in  no  instance  usurped ;  that  these  rights  are  conferred  by  the  laws  of  man,  at 
least,  if  not  by  the  law  of  God.'  [Loud  cries  of  '  Shame,  shame  ! 'J  This  is  the 
mode  in  which  we  are  to  regard  these  two  classes  of  beings,  both  created  by  the  same 
God,  and  both  redeemed  by  the  same  Savior  as  ourselves,  and  destined  to  the  same 
immortality  !  The  judgment,  on  appeal,  was  reversed ;  but,  God  be  praised  ;  there  ia 
another  appeal,  and  that  appeal  we  make  to  the  highest  of  all  imaginable  courts, 
where  God  is  the  judge,  where  mercy  is  the  advocate,  and  where  unerring  truth  will 
pronounce  the  decision!  [Protracted  cheering.]  There  are  some  who  are  pleased  to 
tell  us  that  there  is  an  inferiority  in  the  race  !  That  is  untrue.  [Cheers.]  But  we 
are  not  here  to  inquire  whether  our  black  brethren  will  become  Shakspeares  or  Her- 
schels.  [Hear,  hear!]  I  ask,  are  they  immortal  beings.'  [Great  applause.]  Do  our 
adversaries  say  no.'  I  ask  them,  then,  to  show  me  one  word  in  the  handwriting  of 
God  which  has  thus  levelled  them  with  the  brute  beasts.  [Hear,  hear !]  Let  us  bear 
in  mind  those  words  of  our  blessed  Savior  — '  Whosoever  shall  offend  one  of  these 
little  ones  who  believe  in  me,  it  were  better  that  a  millstone  were  hanged  about  his 
neck,  and  that  he  were  cast  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.'  [Loud  cheers.]  Now,  then, 
what  is  our  duty .'  Is  it  to  stand  still?  Yes!  when  we  receive  the  command  from 
the  same  authority  that  said  to  the  sun,  Stand  over  Gibeon  !  [Loud  cheers.]  Then, 
and  not  till  then,  will  we  stand  still.  [Renewed  cheers.]  Are  we  to  listen  to  the 
craven  and  miserable  talk  about '  doing  more  harm  than  good  ' .'  [Hear,  hear !]  This 
was  an  argument  which  would  have  checked  every  noble  enterprise  which  has  been 
undertaken  since  the  world  began.  It  would  have  strangled  VVilberforce,  and  checked 
the  very  Exodus  itself  from  the  house  of  bondage  in  Egypt.  [Hear,  hear!]  Out  on 
all  such  craven  talk  !  [Cheers.]  Slavery  is  a  mystery,  and  so  is  all  sin,  and  we  must 
fight  against  it ;  and,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  we  will.  [Loud  cheers.]  We  must  pray 
to  Almighty  God,  that  we  and  our  American  brethren  — who  seem  now  to  be  the  sole 
depositories  of  the  Protestant  truth,  and  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  may  be  as  one. 
[Cheers.]  We  are  feeble,  if  hostile  :  but,  if  united,  we  are  the  arbiters  of  the  world. 
[Cheers.]    Let  us  join  together  for  the  temporal  and  spiritual  good  of  our  race." 

Professor  Stowe  then  came  forward,  and  was  received  with  unbounded  demon- 
strations of  applause.  When  the  cheering  had  subsided,  he  said  "  he  felt  utterly  ex- 
hausted by  the  heat  and  excitement  of  the  meeting,  and  should  therefore  be  glad  to  be 
excused  from  saying  a  single  word ;  however,  he  would  utter  a  few  thoughts.  The 
following  was  the  resolution  which  he  had  to  submit  to  the  meeting:  'That  with  a 
view  to  the  correction  of  public  sentiment  on  this  subject  in  slaveholding  communities, 
it  is  of  the  first  importance  that  those  who  are  earnest  in  condemnation  of  slavery 
should  observe  consistency  ;  and,  therefore,  that  it  is  their  duty  to  encourage  the  de- 
velopment of  the  natural  resources  of  countries  where  slavery  does  not  exist,  and  the 
soil  of  which  is  adapted  to  the  growth  of  products  — especially  of  cotton  — now  partial- 


Ivi  INTRODUCTORY. 

ly  or  chiefly  raised  by  slave  laf>or ;  and  thouRh  the  extinction  of  slavery  is  less  to  be 
expected  from  n  diminished  demand  for  slave  produce  than  from  the  moral  effects  of  a 
steadfast  abhorrence  of  slavery  itself,  and  from  an  unwavering  and  consistent  opposi- 
tion to  it,  this  meeting  would  earnestly  recommend,  that  in  all  cases  where  it  is  prac- 
ticable, a  derided  preferceice  shoulil  be  piveii  lo  the  products  of  free  labor,  by  all  who 
entei  their  protest  against  slaver}-,  so  that  at  least  they  themselves  may  be  clear  of  any 
participation  in  the  guilt  of  the  system,  and  be  thus  morally  strengthened  in  their  con- 
deiimaiion  of  it.'  At  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  all  the  states  of  America 
were  slaveholding  stales.  In  Massachusetts,  some  benevolent  white  man  caused  a 
slave  to  try  an  action  for  wages  in  a  court  of  justice.  He  succeeded,  and  the  conse- 
quence was,  that  slavery  fell  in  Massachusetts.  It  was  then  universally  acknowledged 
that  slavery  was  a  sin  and  shame,  and  ought  to  be  abolished,  and  it  was  expected  thtit 
it  would  be  soon  abolished  in  every  state  of  the  Union.  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Madison, 
and  fienjauiin  Franklin  would  not  allow  the  word  'slave'  to  occur  in  the  constitu- 
tion ,  and  Mr.  Edwards,  from  the  pulpit,  clearly  and  broadly  denounced  slavery.  And 
when  he  (Professor  Stowe)  was  a  boy,  in  Massachusetts  the  negro  children  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  same  schools  with  the  whites.  Although  there  was  some  prejudice  of 
color  then,  yet  it  was  not  so  strong  as  at  present.  In  1818,  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  in  the  United  States  passed  resolutions  against  slavery  far 
stronger  than  those  passed  at  the  meeting  this  evening,  and  every  man,  north  and 
south,  voted  for  them.  What  had  caused  the  change?  It  was  the  profitableness  of 
the  cotton  trade.  It  was  that  which  had  spread  the  chains  of  slavery  over  the  Union, 
and  silenced  the  church  upon  the  subject  He  had  been  asked,  what  right  had 
Great  Britain  to  interfere  ?  Why,  Great  Britain  took  four  fifths  of  the  cotton  of  Amer- 
ica, and  therefore  sustained  four  fifths  of  the  slavery.  That  gave  them  a  right  to  inter 
fere.  [Hear,  hear  1 1  He  admitted  that  our  participation  in  the  guilt  was  not  direct, 
but  without  the  cotton  trade  of  Great  Britain  slavery  would  have  been  abolished 
long  ago,  for  the  American  manufacturers  consumed  but  one  fifth  of  all  the  cotton 
grown  in  the  country.  The  conscience  of  the  cotton  growers  was  talked  of;  but  had 
the  cotton  consumer  no  conscience .'  [Cheers.]  It  seemed  to  him  that  the  British  public 
Jiad  more  direct  access  to  the  consumer  than  to  the  grower  of  cotton."  Professor  Stowe 
then  read  an  extract  from  a  paper  published  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  showing 
the  influence  of  the  American  cotton  trade  on  the  slavery  question.  "The  price  of  cot- 
ton regulated  the  price  of  slaves,  who  were  now  worth  an  average  of  two  hundred 
pounds.  A  cotton  plantation  required  in  some  cases  two  hundred,  and  in  others  four 
luindred  slaves.  This  would  give  an  idea  of  the  capital  needed.  W^ith  free  labor 
there  was  none  of  this  outlay  —  there  was  none  of  those  losses  by  the  cholera,  and  the 
•underground  railroad,'  to  which  the  slave  owners  were  subjected.  [Hear,  hear!] 
The  Chinese  had  come  over  in  large  numbers,  and  could  be  hired  for  small  wages,  on 
which  they  managed  to  live  well  in  their  way.  If  people  would  encourage  free-grown 
cotton,  that  would  be  the  strongest  appeal  they  could  make  to  the  slaveholder.    There 


INTRODUCTORY.  Ivii 

were  three  ways  of  abolisliing  slavery.  First,  by  a  bloody  revolution,  which  few 
would  approve.  [Hear,  liear  !J  Secondly,  by  persuading  slaveholders  of  the  wrong 
they  commit ;  but  this  would  have  little  effect  so  long  as  they  bought  their  cotton. 
[Hear,  Jiearl]  And  the  third  and  most  feasible  way  was,  by  making  slave  labor  un- 
profitable, as  compared  with  free  labor.  [Hear !]  When  the  Cliinese  first  began  to 
emigrate  to  California,  it  was  predicted  that  slavery  would  be  '  run  out '  that  way. 
He  hoped  it  might  be  so.  [Cheers.]  The  reverend  gentleman  then  reverted  to  his 
previous  visit  to  this  country,  seventeen  years  ago,  and  described  the  rapid  strides 
which  had  been  made  in  the  work  of  education  —  especially  the  education  of  the 
poor — in  the  interval.  It  was  most  gratifying  to  him,  and  more  easily  seen  by  him 
than  it  would  be  by  us,  with  whom  the  change  had  been  gradual.  He  had  been  told  in 
America  that  the  English  abolitionists  were  prompted  by  jealousy  of  America,  but  he 
had  found  that  to  be  false.  The  Christian  feeling  which  had  dictated  efforts  on  behalf 
of  ragged  schools  and  factory  children,  and  the  welfare  of  the  poor  and  distressed  of 
every  kind,  had  caused  the  same  Christian  hearts  to  throb  for  the  American  slave. 
It  was  that  Christian  philanthropy  which  received  all  men  as  brethren  —  children  of 
the  same  father,  and  therefore  he  had  great  hopes  of  success.  [Cheers.]" 
******** 

My  remarks  on  the  cotton  business  of  Britain  were  made  with  entire  sincerity,  and 
a  single-hearted  desire  to  promote  the  antislavery  cause.  They  are  sentiments  which 
I  had  long  entertained,  and  which  I  had  taken  every  opportunity  to  express  with  the 
utmost  freedom  from  the  time  of  my  first  landing  in  Liverpool,  the  great  cotton  mart 
of  England,  and  where,  if  any  where,  they  might  be  supposed  capable  of  giving  offence  ; 
yet  no  exception  was  taken  to  them,  so  far  as  I  know,  till  delivered  in  Exeter  Hall. 
There  they  were  heard  by  some  with  surprise,  and  by  others  with  extreme  displeas- 
ure. I  was  even  called  -proslavery,  and  ranked  with  Mrs.  Julia  Tyler,  for  frankly 
speaking  the  truth,  under  circumstances  of  great  temptation  to  ignore  it. 

Still  1  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  both  my  views  and  my  motives  were 
rightly  understood  and  properly  appreciated  by  large-hearted  and  clear-headed  philan- 
thropists, like  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  and  Joseph  Sturge,  and  very  fairly  represented 
and  commented  upon  by  such  religious  and  secular  papers  as  the  Christian  Times,  the 
British  Banner,  the  London  Daily  News  and  Chronicle ;  and  even  the  thundering  poUti- 
eal  Times  seemed  disposed,  in  a  half-sarcastic  way,  to  admit  that  1  was  more  than 
half  right. 

But  it  is  most  satisfactory  of  all  to  know  that  the  best  of  the  British  abolitionists  are 
now  acting,  promptly  and  efficiently,  in  accordance  with  those  view?,  and  are  deter- 
mined to  develop  the  resources  of  the  British  empire  for  the  production  of  cotton  by 
free  labor.  The  thing  is  practicable,  and  not  of  very  difficult  accomplishment.  It  is 
furthermore  absolutely  essential  to  the  success  of  the  antislavery  cause ;  for  now  the 
great  practical  leading  argument  for  slavery  is,  fflthout  slavery  you  can  have  no  cottonf 
and  cotton  you  must  and  will  have.  The  latest  work  that  I  have  read  in  defence  of  sla- 
VOL.    I.  / 


Iviii  INTRODUCTORY. 

very  (Uncle  Tom  In  Paris',  Raltimore,  18o4)  says,  (pp.  5C-7,)  '•  Of  the  coUon  which  sup- 
plies  the  wants  of  the  citilized  world,  the  south  produces  8G  per  cent. ;  and  without  slava 
labor  experience  has  shown  that  the  cotton  plant  cannot  be  cultitatcd." 

IIow  the  matter  is  viewed  by  sacacioiis  ami  practical  minds  in  Britain,  is  clear  from 
the  following  sentences,  taken  from  tJio  Xational  Era:  — 

"Cotton  is  Kiivo.  —  Charles  Dickens,  in  a  late  number  of  his  Household  Words, 
after  enumerating  the  striking  facts  of  cotton,  says, — 

" '  Let  any  social  or  physical  convulsion  visit  the  United  States,  and  England  would 
feel  the  shock  from  Land's  End  to  John  o'  Groat's.  The  lives  of  nearly  two  millions 
of  our  countrymen  are  dependent  upon  the  cotton  crops  of  America  ;  their  destiny  may 
he  said,  without  any  sort  of  Jiyperhole,  to  hang  upon  a  thread. 

" '  Siiould  any  dire  calamity  befall  the  land  of  cotton,  a  thousand  of  our  merchant  ships 
would  rot  idly  in  dock  ;  ten  thousand  mills  must  stop  their  busy  looms,  and  two  mil- 
lion mouths  would  starve  for  lack  of  food  to  feed  them.' 

"  How  many  non-slaveholders  elsewhere  are  thus  interested  in  the  products  of  slaves  } 
Is  it  not  worthy  the  attention  of  genuine  philanthropists  to  inquire  whether  cotton  can- 
not be  profitably  cultivated  by  free  labor?  " 

SOIREE  AT  WILLIS'S  EOOMS  — May  25. 

Wr.  Joseph  Sturge  took  the  chair,  announcing  that  he  did  so  in  the  absence  of  the 
Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  who  was  prevented  from  attending. 

It  was  announced  that  letters  had  been  received  from  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  and  the 
Earls  of  Carlisle  and  Shaftesbury,  expressing  their  sympathy  with  the  object  of  the 
meeting,  and  their  regret  at  being  unable  to  attend. 

The  Secretary,  Samuel  Bowley,  Esq.,  of  Gloucester,  then  read  the  address,  which 
was  as  follows:  — 

"  Madam  :  It  is  with  feelings  of  the  deepest  interest  that  the  committee  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Antislavery  Society,  on  behalf  of  themselves  and  of  the  society  they  repre- 
sent, welcome  the  gifted  authoress  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  to  the  shores  of  Great  Britain. 

"  As  humble  laborers  in  the  cause  of  negro  emancipation,  we  hail,  with  emotions  more 
easily  imagined  than  described,  the  appearance  of  that  remarkable  work,  which  has 
awakened  a  world-wide  sympathy  on  behalf  of  the  suffering  negro,  and  called  forth  a 
burst  of  honest  indignation  against  the  atrocious  system  of  slavery,  which,  we  trust,  un- 
der the  divine  blessing,  will,  at  no  distant  period,  accomplish  its  entire  abolition.  We  are 
not  iaseiisible  to  those  extraordinary  merits  of  Undo  Tom's  Cabin,  as  a  merely  literary 
product  ion,  which  have  procured  for  its  talented  authoress  such  universal  commen- 
dation and  enthusiastic  applause  ;  but  wo  foel  it  to  bo  onr  duty  to  refer  rather  to  the 
Christian  principles  and  earnest  piety  which  pervade  its  interesting  pages,  and  to  ex- 
press our  warmest  desire,  we  trust  we  may  say  heartfelt  prayer,  that  He  who  bestowed 


INTRODUCTORY.  lix 

upon  you  the  jrower  and  the  grace  to  write  such  a  work  may  preserve  and  bless  you 
amid  all  your  honours,  and  enable  you,  under  a  grateful  and  humble  sense  of  hia 
abundant  goodness,  to  give  him  all  the  glory. 

"  VVe  rejoice  to  find  that  the  great  principles  upon  which  our  society  is  based  are  so 
fully  and  so  cordially  recognized  by  yourself  and  your  beloved  husband  and  brother  — 
First,  that  personal  slavery,  in  all  its  varied  furms,  is  a  direct  violation  of  tiio  blessed 
precepts  of  the  gospel,  and  therefore  a  sin  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  and  secondly,  that 
every  victim  of  this  unjust  and  sinful  system  is  entitled  to  immediate  and  uncondi- 
tional freedom.  For,  however  we  might  acquiesce  in  the  course  of  a  nation 
which,  under  a  sense  of  its  participation  in  the  guilt  of  slavery,  should  share  the  pe- 
cuniary loss,  if  such  there  were,  of  its  immediate  abolition,  yet  we  repudiate  the  right 
to  demand  compensation  for  human  flesh  and  blood,  as  (to  employ  the  emphatic  words 
of  Lord  Brougham)  we  repudiate  and  abhor  '  the  wild  and  guilty  fantasy  that  man  can 
hold  property  in  man.'  And  we  do  not  hesitate  to  express  our  conviction,  strength- 
ened by  the  experience  of  emancipation  in  our  own  colonies,  that  on  the  mere  ground 
of  social  or  political  expediency,  the  immediate  termination  of  slavery  would  be  far 
less  dangerous  and  far  less  injurious  than  any  system  of  compromise,  or  any  attempt 
at  gradual  emancipation. 

"  Let  it  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  —  and  we  record  it  with  peculiar  interest  on  the 
present  occasion,  —  that  it  was  the  pen  of  a  woman  that  first  publicly  enunciated  the 
imperative  duty  of  immeditite  emancipation.  Amid  vituperation  and  ridicule,  and, 
far  worse,  the  cold  rebuke  of  Christian  friends,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Heyrick  boldly  sent 
forth  the  thrilling  tract  which  taught  the  abolitionists  of  Great  Britain  this  lesson  of 
justice  and  trutti  ;  and  we  honor  her  memory  for  her  deeds.  Again  we  are  indebted 
to  the  pen  of  a  woman  for  pleading  yet  more  powerfully  the  cause  of  justice  to  the 
slave ;  and  again  we  have  to  admire  and  honor  the  Christian  heroism  which  has 
enabled  you,  dear  madam,  to  brave  the  storm  of  public  opinion,  and  to  bear  the  frowns 
of  the  church  in  your  own  land,  while  you  boldly  sent  forth  your  matchless  volume 
to  teach  more  widely  and  more  attractively  the  same  righteous  lesson. 

"  VVe  desire  to  feel  grateful  for  the  measure  of  success  that  has  crowned  the  advocacy 
of  these  sound  antislavery  principles  in  our  own  country ;  but  we  cannot  but  feel, 
that  as  regards  the  continuance  of  slavery  in  America,  we  have  cause  for  humiliation 
and  shame  in  the  existence  of  the  melancholy  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  fruits 
of  the  bitter  toil  and  suffering  of  the  slaves  in  the  western  world  are  used  to  minister 
to  the  comfort  and  the  luxury  of  our  own  population.  When  this  anomaly  of  a  country's 
putting  down  slavery  by  law  on  the  one  hand,  and  supporting  it  by  its  trade  and  com- 
merce on  the  other,  will  be  removed,  it  is  not  for  us  to  predict ;  but  we  are  conscious 
that  our  position  is  such  as  should  at  least  dissipate  every  sentiment  of  self-compla- 
cency, and  make  us  feel,  both  nationally  and  individually,  how  deep  a  responsibility 
still  rests  upon  us  to  waflx  our  own  hands  of  this  iniquity,  and  to  seek  by  every  legiti- 
mate means  in  our  power  to  rid  the  world  of  this  fearful  institution 


Ix  INTRODUCTORY. 

"True  Christian  pliilanthropy  knows  no  geoprapliical  limits,  no  distinctions  of  race  or 
Cdlijr ;  but  wiierevcr  it  sees  its  fellow-man  tlie  victim  «.f  suflering  and  oppression,  it 
seeks  to  alleviate  his  sorrows,  or  drops  a  tear  of  sympathy  over  the  afflictions  which  it 
has  not  tlie  jxiwer  to  remove.  We  cannot  but  believe  that  these  enlarged  and  gener 
ous  sympathies  will  be  aroused  and  strengthened  in  the  Jiearts  of  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  all  classes  who  have  wept  over  the  touching  pages  of  Uncle  Tom'a 
Cabin.  Wo  have  marked  the  rapid  progress  of  its  circulation  from  circle  to  circle, 
and  from  country  to  country,  with  feelings  of  tiirilling  interest  ;  for  we  trust,  by  the 
divine  blessing  upon  the. softening  influence  and  Christian  sentiments  it  breathes, 
it  will  be  made  the  harbinger  of  a  better  and  brighter  day  for  the  happiness  and  the  har- 
mony of  the  human  family.  The  facilities  for  international  intercourse  which  wo  now 
possess,  while  they  rapidly  tend  to  remove  those  absurd  jealousies  which  have  so  long 
existed  between  th«  nations  of  the  earth,  are  daily  increasing  the  power  of  public 
opinion  in  the  world  at  large,  which  is  so  well  described  by  one  of  our  leading  states- 
men in  these  forcible  words:  '  It  is  quite  true,  it  maybe  said,  what  are  opinions  against 
armies?  Opinions,  if  they  are  founded  in  truth  and  justice,  will  in  the  end  prevail 
against  the  bayonets  of  infantry,  the  fire  of  artillery,  and  the  charges  of  cavalry.'  Re- 
sponding most  cordially  to  these  sentiments,-we  rejoice  with  thanksgiving  to  God  that 
you,  whom  we  now  greet  and  welcome  as  our  dear  and  honored  friend,  have  been  en- 
abled to  exemplify  their  beauty  and  their  truth  ;  for  it  is  our  firm  conviction  that  the 
united  powers  of  Europe,  with  all  their  military  array,  could  not  accomplish  what 
you  have  done,  through  the  medium  of  public  opinion,  for  the  overthrow  of  American 
slavery. 

"  The  glittering  steel  of  the  warrior,  though  steeped  in  the  tyrant's  blood,  would  be 
weak  when  compared  with  a  woman's  pen  dipped  in  the  milk  of  human  kindness, 
and  softened  by  the  balm  of  Christian  love.  The  words  that  have  drawn  a  tear  from 
the  eye  of  the  noble,  and  moistened  the  dusky  cheek  of  the  hardest  sons  of  toil,  shall 
sink  into  the  heart  and  weaken  the  grasp  of  the  slaveholder,  and  crimson  with  a  blush 
of  shame  many  an  American  citizen  who  has  hitherto  defended  or  countenanced  by 
his  silence  this  bitter  reproach  on  the  character  and  constitution  of  his  country. 

"  To  the  tender  mercies  of  Him  who  died  to  save  their  immortal  souls  we  commend 
the  downcast  slaves  for  freedom  and  protection,  and,  in  the  heart-cheering  belief  that 
you  have  been  raised  up  as  an  honored  instrument  in  God's  hand  to  hasten  the  glo- 
rious work  of  their  emancipation,  we  crave  th.it  his  blessing,  as  well  as  the  blessing 
of  him  tiiat  is  ready  to  perish,  may  abundantly  rest  upon  j'ou  and  yours.  With  sen- 
tinients  of  the  highest  esteem  and  respect,  dear  madam,  we  afTectionately  subscribe 
ourselves  your  friends  and  fellow-laborers." 

Professor  Stowe  was  received  with  prolonged  cheering.  lie  said,  •'  Besides  the 
right  which  I  have,  owing  to  the  relationship  subsisting  between  iis,  to  answer  for  the 
lady  whom  you  have  so  honored,  I  may  claim  a  still  greater  right  in  my  sympathy  for 


INTRODUCTORY.  Ixi 

her  efforts.  [Hear  !]  We  are  perfectly  agreed  in  every  point  with  regard  to  tlio  nature 
of  slavery,  and  the  best  means  of  getting  rid  of  it.  I  have  been  frequently  called  on 
to  address  public  meetings  since  I  have  been  on  those  shores,  and  though  under  cir- 
cumstances of  great  disadvantage,  and  generally  with  little  time,  if  any,  for  prepara- 
tion, still  the  very  great  kindness  which  has  been  manifested  to  Sirs  Stowe  and  to 
myself,  and  to  our  country,  afflicted  as  it  is  with  this  great  evil,  has  enabled  me  to 
bear  a  burden  wliich  otherwise  I  should  have  found  insupportable  But  ol  all  the  ad- 
dresses we  have  received,  kind  and  considerate  as  they  have  ail  been,  I  doubt  wiiether 
one  has  so  completely  expressed  the  feelings  and  sympathies  of  our  own  hearts  as  the 
one  we  have  just  heard.  It  is  precisely  the  expressions  of  out  own  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings on  the  whole  subject  of  slavery.  As  this  is  probably  the  last  time  1  shall  have  an 
opportunity  of  addressing  an  audience  in  England,  I  wish  briefly  to  give  you  an  out- 
line of  our  views  as  to  the  best  means  of  dealing  with  that  terrible  subject  of  slavery, 
for  in  our  country  it  is  really  terrible  in  its  power  and  influence  Were  it  not  that 
Pnividence  seems  to  be  lifting  a  ligfit  in  the  distance,  I  should  be  almost  in  despair. 
There  is  now  a  system  of  causes  at  work  which  Providence  designs  should  continue 
to  work,  until  that  great  curse  is  removed  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  I  believe  that  in 
dealing  with  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  the  best  means  of  removing  it,  the  first  thing 
is  to  show  the  utter  wrongfulness  of  the  whole  system.  Tbe  great  moral  ground  is 
the  chief  and  primary  ground,  and  the  one  on  which  we  should  always,  and  under  all 
circumstances,  insist.  With  regard  to  the  work  which  has  created  so  much  excite- 
ment, the  great  excellence  of  it  morally  is,  that  it  holds  up  fully  and  emphatically  the 
extreme  wrongfulness  of  the  system,  while  at  the  same  time  showing  an  entire  Chris- 
tian and  forgiving  spirit  towards  those  involved  in  it ;  and  it  is  these  two  characteris- 
tics which,  in  my  opinion,  have  given  it  its  great  power.  Till  I  read  that  book,  I  had 
never  seen  any  extensive  work  that  satisfied  me  on  those  points.  It  does  show,  in  the 
most  striking  manner,  the  horrible  wrongfulness  of  the  system,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
it  displays  no  bitterness,  no  unfairness,  no  unkindness,  to  those  involved  in  it.  It  is 
that  which  gives  the  work  the  greater  power,  for  where  there  is  unfairness,  those  as- 
sailed take  refuge  behind  it ;  while  here  they  have  no  such  refuge.  We  should  always 
aim,  in  assailing  the  system  of  slavery,  to  awaken  the  consciences  of  those  involved  in 
it ;  for  among  slaveholders  there  are  all  kinds  of  moral  development,  as  among  every 
other  class  of  people  in  the  world.  There  are  men  of  tender  conscience,  as  well  as 
men  of  blimted  conscience  ;  men  with  moral  sense,  and  men  with  no  moral  sense 
whatever  ;  some  who  have  come  into  the  system  involuntarily,  born  in  it,  and  others 
who  have  come  into  it  voluntarily.  There  is  a  moral  nature  in  every  man,  more  or 
less  develoj)ed  ;  and  according  as  it  is  developed  we  can,  by  showing  the  wrong  of  a 
thing,  bring  one  to  abhor  it.  We  have  the  testimony  of  Christian  clergymen  in  slave 
holding  states,  that  the  greater  portion  of  the  Christian  people  there,  and  ev'.n  ma'  y 
slaveholders,  believe  the  system  is  wrong  ;  and  it  is  only  a  matter  of  time,  a  quest!  ii 


Ixii  INTRODUCTORY. 

of  delay,  as  to  wlien  they  shall  pcrfurin  their  whole  duty,  and  bring  it  to  an  end.*  One 
would  believe  that  when  they  saw  a  thing  to  be  wronp,  they  would  at  once  do  right ; 
but  prejudice,  habit,  interent,  education,  and  a  varirty  of  influences  check  their  aspi- 
rations to  what  is  right ;  but  let  us  keep  on  pressing  it  upon  their  consciences,  and  I 
believe  their  consciences  will  at  length  respond.  Public  sentinnent  is  more  powerful 
than  force,  and  it  may  be  excited  in  many  ways.  Conversation,  the  press,  the  plat- 
form, and  the  pul|»it  may  all  be  used  to  awaken  the  feeling  of  the  poo|)le,  and  bring 
it  to  bear  on  this  question.  I  refer  especially  to  the  pulpit;  for,  if  the  church  and 
the  ministrj-  are  silent,  who  is  to  speak  for  the  dumb  and  the  oppressed.-'  The  thing 
that  has  borne  on  my  mind  with  the  most  melancholy  weight,  and  caused  me  most 
sorrow,  is  the  apparent  apathy,  the  comparative  silence,  of  the  church  on  this  subject 
for  the  last  twenty  or  five  and  twenty  years  in  the  United  States.  Previous  to  that 
period  it  did  speak,  and  with  words  of  power  ;  but,  unfortunately,  it  has  not  followed 
out  those  words  by  acts.  The  influence  of  the  system  has  come  upon  it,  and  brought 
it,  for  a  long  time,  almost  to  entire  silence;  but  I  hope  we  are  beginning  to  speak 
again.  \Vc  hear  voices  here  and  there  which  will  excite  other  voices,  and  I  trust  be- 
fore long  they  will  bring  all  to  speak  the  same  thing  on  this  subject,  so  that  the  am- 
science  of  the  whole  nation  may  bo  aroused.  There  is  another  method  of  dealing  with 
the  subject,  which  is  alluded  to  in  tlie  address,  and  also  in  tlie  resolution  of  the  society, 
at  Exeter  Mall.  It  is  the  third  resolution  proposed  at  that  meeting,  and  I  will  read  it, 
and  make  some  comments  as  I  jjroceed.  It  begins,  '  That,  with  a  view  to  the  correc- 
tion of  public  sentiment  on  this  subject  in  slaveholding  communities,  it  is  of  the  first 
importance  that  those  who  are  earnest  in  condemnation  of  slavery  should  observe 
consistency,  and,  therefore,  that  it  is  their  duty  to  encourage  the  development  of  the 
natural  resources  of  countries  where  slavery  does  not  exist,  and  the  soil  of  which  is 
adapted  to  the  growth  of  products,  especially  cotton,  now  partially  or  chiefly 
raised  by  slave  labor.'  Now,  I  concur  with  this  most  entirely,  and  would  refer  you  to 
countries  where  cotton  can  be  grown  even  in  your  own  dominions —  in  India,  Australia, 
British  Guiana,  and  parts  of  Africa.  But  it  can  be  raised  by  free  labor  in  the  United 
States,  and  indeed  it  Is  already  raised  there  by  free  labor  to  a  considerable  extent ;  and, 
provided  the  plan  were  more  encouraged,  it  could  be  raised  more  abundantly.  Tne 
resolution  goes  on  to  say, '  And  though  tlie  extinction  of  slavery  is  less  to  be  expected 
from  a  diminished  demand  for  slave  produce  than  from  the  moral  effects  of  a  steadfast 
abhorrence  of  slavery,  and  from  an  unwavering  and  consistent  opposition  to  it,'  &c. 
Now,  my  own  feelings  on  that  subject  are  not  quite  so  hopeless  as  here  expressed,  and 
it  seems  to  me  that  you  are  not  aware  of  the  extent  to  which  free  labor  may  come  into 
coin|)etition  with  slave  labor.  I  know  several  instances,  in  the  most  slaveholding 
states,  in  which  slave  labor  has  been  displaced,  and  free  labor  substituted  in  its  stead. 
The  weakness  of  slavery-  consists  in  the  expense  of  the  slaves,  the  great  capital  to  bo 

•  This  statp  of  thinps  is  fast  changing.    Church  members  at  the  south  now  defend  slavery  as 
right.    This  is  a  new  thing. 


INTRODUCTORY.  Ixiii 

invested  in  their  purchase  before  any  work  can  be  performed,  and  the  constant  danger 
of  loss  by  death  or  escape.  When  the  Chinese  emigrants  from  the  eastern  portion  of 
their  empire  came  to  the  Nortli-western  States,  their  labor  was  found  much  cheaper 
and  better  than  that  of  slaves.  I  therefore  hope  there  may  be  a  direct  influence  from 
this  source,  as  well  as  the  indirect  influence  contemplated  by  the  resolution.  At  all 
events,  it  is  an  encouragement  to  those  who  wish  the  extinction  of  slavery  to  keep 
their  eyes  open,  and  assist  the  process  by  all  the  means  in  their  power.  The  resolu- 
tion proceeds:  'This  meeting  would  earnestly  recommend,  in  all  cases  where  it  is 
practicable,  that  a  decided  preference  should  be  given  to  the  products  of  free  labor  by 
all  who  enter  their  protest  against  slavery,  so  that  at  least  they  themselves  may  be 
clear  of  any  partici{)atiou  in  the  guilt  of  the  system,  and  be  thus  morally  strengthened 
in  their  condemnation  of  it.'  To  that  there  can  be  no  objection  ;  but  still  the  state  of 
society  is  such  that  we  cannot  at  once  dispense  with  all  the  products  of  slave  labor. 
We  may,  however,  be  doing  what  we  can  —  examining  the  ways  and  methods  by  which 
this  end  may  be  brought  about;  and,  at  all  events,  we  need  not  be  deterred  from  self- 
denial,  nor  shrink  before  minor  obstacles.  If  with  foresight  we  participate  in  the  en- 
couragement of  slave  labor,  we  must  hold  ourselves  guilty,  in  no  unimportant  sense, 
of  sustaining  the  system  of  slavery.  I  will  illustrate  my  argument  by  a  verj'  simple 
method.  Suppose  two  ships  arrive  laden  with  silks  of  the  same  quality,  but  one  a 
pirate  ship,  in  which  the  goods  have  been  obtained  by  robbery,  and  the  other  by  honest 
trade.  The  pirate  sells  his  silks  twenty  per  cent,  cheaper  than  the  honest  trader :  you 
go  to  him,  and  declaim  against  his  dishonesty  ;  but  because  you  can  get  silks  cheaper  of 
him,  you  buy  of  him.  Would  he  think  you  sincere  in  your  denunciations  of  his  plun- 
dering his  fellow-creatures,  or  would  you  exert  any  influence  on  him  to  make  him 
abandon  his  dishonest  practices?  I  can,  however,  put  another  case  in  which  this  in- 
consistency might,  perhaps,  be  unavoidable.  Suppose  we  were  in  famine  or  great 
necessity,  and  we  wished  to  obtain  provisions  for  our  suffering  families  :  suppose,  too, 
there  was  a  certain  man  with  provisions,  who,  we  knew,  had  come  by  them  dishonestly, 
but  we  had  no  other  resource  than  to  purchase  of  him.  In  that  case  we  should  be 
justified  in  purchasing  of  him,  and  should  not  participate  in  the  guilt  of  the  robbery. 
But  still,  however  great  our  necessity,  we  are  not  justified  in  refusing  to  examine  the 
subject,  and  in  discouraging  those  who  are  endeavoring  to  set  the  thing  on  the  right 
ground.  That  is  all  I  wish,  and  all  the  resolution  contemplates  ;  and,  happily,  I  find 
that  that  also  is  what  was  implied  in  the  address.  I  may  mention  one  other  method 
alluded  to  in  the  address,  and  that  is  prayer  to  Almighty  God.  This  ought  to  be,  and 
must  be,  a  religious  enterprise.  It  is  impossible  for  any  man  to  contemplate  slavery  as 
it  is  without  feeling  intense  indignation  ;  and  unless  he  have  his  heart  near  to  God, 
and  unless  he  be  a  man  of  prayer  and  devotional  spirit,  bad  passions  will  arise,  and  to 
a  verj'  great  extent  neutralize  his  efforts  to  do  good.  How  do  you  suppose  such  a  re- 
ligious feeling  has  been  preserved  in  the  book  to  which  the  address  refers?  Because 
it  was  written  amid  prayer  from  the  beginning;  and  it  is  only  by  a  constant  exerci-^e 


Ixiv  INTRODUCTORY. 

of  the  religious  spirit  tliat  the  poo<l  it  had  cfTected  hns  been  arcornplishcd  in  the  way 
it  ha»,  Tlicre  i:<  one  more  subject  to  wJiich  I  W(»nhl  alhido,  and  lliat  is  unity  among 
those  who  desire  to  cnrincipatr  tiie  slave.  I  mean  n  pood  understanding  and  unity  of 
feclinK  ainon-,'  tlic  o|)|)onent.s  of  slavery.  Wliat  gives  slavery  its  great  «|rcnpth  in  tlie 
United  States.'  There  are  only  about  three  hundred  thousattd  slaveholders  in  the 
United  States  out  of  the  wh(de  twenty-five  millions  of  its  population,  and  yet  they 
hold  the  entire  power  over  the  nation.  That  is  owing  to  their  unbroken  unity  on  that 
one  matter,  however  much,  and  however  fiercely,  they  may  contend  among  them- 
Bclres  on  others.  As  soon  as  the  subject  of  slavery  comes  up,  they  are  of  one  heart, 
of  one  voice,  and  of  one  mind,  while  their  opponents  unhappily  ditl'er,  and  assail  each 
other  when  they  ought  to  be  assailing  the  great  enemy  alone.  Why  can  they  not  work 
together,  so  far  as  they  are  agreed,  and  let  those  |)oints  on  which  they  disagree  bo 
waived  for  the  time  ?  In  the  midst  of  the  battle  let  thcin  sink  their  differences,  and 
settle  them  after  the  victory  is  won.  I  was  happy  to  find  at  the  great  meeting  of  the 
Peace  Society  that  that  course  has  been  adopted.  Tliey  are  not  all  of  one  mind  on  the 
details  of  the  question,  but  they  are  of  one  mind  on  the  great  principle  of  ditTusing 
peace  doctrines  among  the  great  nations  of  Europe.  I  therefore  say,  let  all  the  friends 
of  the  slave  work  together  until  the  great  work  of  his  emancipation  is  accumplislicd, 
and  then  they  w  ill  have  titne  to  discuss  their  differences,  though  I  believe  by  that 
time  they  will  all  think  alike.  1  thank  you  sincerely  for  the  kindness  you  have  ex- 
pressed towards  my  country,  and  for  the  philanthropy  you  have  manil'ested,  and  I  hope 
all  has  been  done  in  such  a  Christian  spirit  that  every  Christian  feeling  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic  will  he  compelled  to  respond  to  it." 


Concluding  Note. 


Since  the  preceding  addresses  were  delivered,  the  aspect  of 
tilings  among  us  has  been  greatly  changed.  It  is  just  as  was 
predicted  by  the  sagacious  Lord  Cockburn,  at  the  meeting  in 
Edinburgh,  (see  page  xv.)  The  spirit  of  slavery,  stimulated 
to  madness  by  the  indignation  of  the  civilized  world,  in  its 
frenzy  bids  defiance  to  God  and  man,  and  is  determined  to 
make  it  elf  respected  by  enlisting  into  its  service  the  entire 


INTRODUCTORY.  Ixv 

wealth,  and  power,  and  political  influence  of  this  great  nation. 
Its  encroachments  are  becoming  so  enormous,  and  its  progress 
so  rapid,  that  it  is  now  a  conflict  for  the  freedom  of  the  citi- 
zens rather  than  for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  The 
reckless  faithlessness  and  impudent  falsehood  of  our  national 
proslavery  legislation,  the  present  season,  has  scarcely  a  par- 
allel in  history,  black  as  history  is  with  all  kinds  of  perfidy. 
If  the  men  who  mean  to  be  free  do  not  now  arise  in  their 
strength  and  shake  off  the  incubus  which  is  strangling  and 
crushing  them,  they  deserve  to  be  slaves,  and  they  will  be. 

C.   E.   S. 


SUNNY    MEMORIES 


OF 


FOREIGN    LANDS. 


(Ixvii) 


SUNNY   MEMORIES 

OP 

FOREIGN  LANDS. 


LETTER    I. 

Liverpool,  April  11,  1853. 
My  dear  Children  :  — 

You  wish,  first  of  all,  to  hear  of  the  voyage.  Let  me 
assure  you,  my  dears,  in  the  very  commencement  of  the 
matter,  that  going  to  sea  is  not  at  all  the  thing  that  we  have 
taken  it  to  be. 

You  know  how  often  we  have  longed  for  a  sea  voyage,  as 
the  fulfilment  of  all  our  dreams  of  poetry  and  romance,  the 

TOL.  I.  1  (1) 


2  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

realization  of  our  liiglicst  conceptions  of  free,  joyous  exist- 
ence. 

You  remember  our  ship-launching  parties  in  Maine,  when 
we  used  to  ride  to  the  seaside  through  dark  pine  forests, 
lighted  up  with  the  gold,  scarlet,  and  orange  tints  of  autumn. 
What  exhilaration  there  was,  as  those  beautiful  inland  bays, 
one  by  one,  unrolled  like  silver  ribbons  before  us !  and  how 
all  our  sympathies  went  forth  with  the  grand  new  ship  about 
to  be  launched !  How  graceful  and  noble  a  thing  she  looked, 
as  she  sprang  from  the  shore  to  the  blue  w^aters,  like  a  human 
soul  springing  from  life  into  immortality !  How  all  our 
feelings  went  with  her !  how  we  longed  to  be  with  her,  and  a 
l)art  of  her — to  go  with  her  to  India,  China,  or  any  where, 
so  that  we  might  rise  and  fall  on  the  bosom  of  that  magnifi- 
cent ocean,  and  share  a  part  of  that  glorified  existence! 
That  ocean  !  that  blue,  sparkling,  heaving,  mysterious  ocean, 
with  all  the  signs  and  wonders  of  heaven  emblazoned  on  its 
l)OSom,  and  another  world  of  mystery  hidden  beneath  its 
waters !  "Who  would  not  long  to  enjoy  a  freer  communion, 
and  rejoice  in  a  prospect  of  days  spent  in  unreserved  fellow- 
ship with  its  grand  and  noble  nature  ? 

Alas  !  what  a  contrast  between  all  this  poetry  and  the  real 
prose  fact  of  going  to  sea !  No  man,  the  proverb  says,  is  a 
hero  to  his  valet  de  chambre.  Certainly,  no  poet,  no  hero,  no 
inspired  prophet,  ever  lost  so  much  on  near  acquaintance  as 
this  same  mystic,  grandiloquent  old  Ocean.  The  one  step 
from  the  subhme  to  the  ridiculous  is  never  taken  with  such 
alacrity  as  in  a  sea  voyage. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  a  melancholy  fact,  but  not  the  less 
true,  that  ship  life  is  not  at  all  fragrant ;  in  short,  particularly 
on  a  steamer,  there  is  a  most  mournful  combination  of  grease, 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.         d 

steam,  onions,  and  dinners  in  general,  either  past,  present,  or 
to  come,  whicli,  floating  invisibly  in  the  atmosphere,  strongly 
predisposes  to  that  disgust  of  existence,  which,  in  half  an  hour 
after  saiUng,  begins  to  come  upon  you ;  that  disgust,  that 
strange,  mysterious,  ineffable  sensation  which  steals  slowly 
and  inexplicably  upon  you ;  which  makes  every  heaving  bil- 
low, every  white-capped  wave,  the  ship,  the  people,  the  sight, 
taste,  sound,  and  smell  of  every  thmg  a  matter  of  inexpressi- 
ble loathing  !     Man  cannot  utter  it. 

It  is  really  amusing  to  watch  the  gradual  progress  of  this 
epidemic ;  to  see  people  stepping  on  board  in  the  highest  pos- 
sible feather,  alert,  airy,  nimble,  parading  the  deck,  chatty 
and  conversable,  on  the  best  possible  terms  with  themselves 
and  mankind  generally;  the  treacherous  ship,  meanwhile, 
undulating  and  heaving  m  the  most  graceful  rises  and  pauses 
imaginable,  like  some  voluptuous  waltzer;  and  then  to  see 
one  after  another  yielding  to  the  mysterious  spell ! 

Your  poet  launches  forth,  "  full  of  sentiment  sublime  as  bil- 
lows," discoursing  magnificently  on  the  color  of  the  waves  and 
the  glory  of  the  clouds ;  but  gradually  he  grows  white  about 
the  mouth,  gives  sidelong  looks  towards  the  stairway ;  at  last, 
with  one  desperate  plunge,  he  sets,  to  rise  no  more  ! 

Here  sits  a  stout  gentleman,  who  looks  as  resolute  as  an 
oak  log.  "These, things  are  much  the  effect_of  imagination," 
he  tells  you  ;  "  a  little  self-control  and  resolution,"  &:c.  Ah 
me  !  it  is  delightful,  when  these  people,  who  are  always  talk- 
ing about  resolution,  get  caught  on  shipboard.  As  the  back- 
woodsman said  to  the  Mississippi  River,  about  the  steamboat, 
they  "  get  their  match."  Our  stout  gentleman  sits  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  upright  as  a  palm  tree,  his  back  squared  against 
the  rails,  pretending  to  be  reading  a  paper ;  but  a  dismal  look 


4  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

of  disgust  is  settling  down  about  his  lips ;  the  old  sea  and  his 
will  are  evidently  having  a  pitched  battle.  Ah,  ha  !  there  he 
goes  for  the  stairway ;  says  he  has  left  a  book  in  the  cabin, 
but  shoots  by  with  a  most  suspicious  velocity.  You  may 
fancy  his  finale. 

Then,  of  course,  there  are  young  ladies,  —  charming  crea- 
tures, —  who,  in  about  ten  minutes,  are  going  to  die,  and  are 
sure  they  shall  die,  and  don't  care  if  they  do ;  whom  anxious 
papas,  or  brothers,  or  lovers  consign  with  all  speed  to  those 
dismal  lower  regions,  where  the  brisk  chambermaid,  who  has 
been  expecting  them,  seems  to  tliink  their  agonies  and  groans 
a  regular  part  of  the  play. 

I  had  come  on  board  thinking,  in  my  simplicity,  of  a  fort- 
night to  be  spent  something  like  the  fortnight  on  a  trip  to 
New  Orleans,  on  one  of  our  floating  river  palaces ;  that  we 
sliould  sit  in  our  state  rooms,  read,  sew,  sketch,  and  chat ;  and 
accordingly  I  laid  in  a  magnificent  provision  in  the  way  of 
literature  and  divers  matters  of  fancy  work,  with  which  to 
while  away  the  time.  Some  last,  airy  touches,  in  the  way 
of  making  up  bows,  disposing  ribbons,  and  binding  collarets, 
had  been  left  to  these  long,  leisure  hours,  as  matters  of 
amusement. 

Let  me  warn  you,  if  you  ever  go  to  sea,  you  may  as  well 
omit  all  such  preparations.  Don't  leave  so  much  as  the 
unlocking  of  a  trunk  to  be  done  after  sailing.  In  the  few 
precious  minutes  when  the  ship  stands  still,  before  she  weighs 
her  anchor,  set  your  house,  that  is  to  say,  your  state  room,  as 
much  in  order  as  if  you  were  going  to  be  hanged ;  place 
every  thing  in  the  most  convenient  position  to  be  seized  with- 
out trouble  at  a  moment's  notice ;  for  be  sure  that  in  half  au 
hour  after  sailing  an  infinite  desperation  will  seize  you,  in 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.         O 

wlilcli  the  grasshopper  will  be  a  burden.  If  any  thing  is  in 
your  trunk,  it  might  almost  as  well  be  in  the  sea,  for  any 
practical  probability  of  your  getting  to  it. 

Moreover,  let  your  toilet  be  eminently  simple,  for  you  will 
find  the  time  coming  when  to  button  a  cuff  or  arrange  a 
ruff  will  be  a  matter  of  absolute  despair.  You  lie  discon- 
solate in  your  berth,  only  desiring  to  be  let  alone  to  die; 
and  then,  if  you  are  told,  as  you  always  are,  that  "you 
mustn't  give  way,"  that  "  you  must  rouse  yourself"  and  come 
on  deck,  you  will  appreciate  the  value  of  simple  attire. 
"With  every  thing  in  your  berth  dizzily  swinging  backwards 
and  forwards,  your  bonnet,  your  cloak,  your  tippet,  your 
gloves,  all  present  so  many  discouraging  impossibilities ;  knot- 
ted strings  cannot  be  untied,  and  modes  of  fastening  which 
seemed  curious  and  convenient,  when  you  had  nothing  else 
to  do  but  fasten  them,  now  look  disgustingly  impracticable. 
Nevertheless,  your  fate  for  the  whole  voyage  depends  upon 
your  rousing  yourself  to  get  upon  deck  at  first ;  to  give  up, 
then,  is  to  be  condemned  to  the  Avernus,  the  Hades  of  the 
lower  regions,  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage. 

Ah,  those  lower  regions  !  —  the  saloons  —  every  couch  and 
corner  filled  with  prostrate,  despairing  forms,  with  pale 
cheeks,  long,  willowy  hair  and  sunken  eyes,  groaning,  sighing, 
and  apostrophizing  the  Fates,  and  solemnly  vowing  between 
every  lurch  of  the  ship,  that  "  you'll  never  catch  them  going 
to  sea  again,  that's  what  you  won't ; "  and  then  the  bulletins 
from  all  the  state  rooms  —  "  Mrs.  A.  is  sick,  and  Miss  B.  sicker, 
and  Miss  C.  almost  dead,  and  Mrs.  E.,  F.,  and  G.  declare 
that  they  shall  give  up."  This  threat  of  "  giving  up  "  is  a 
standing  resort  of  ladies  in  distressed  circumstances ;  it  is  al- 
ways very  impressively  pronounced,  as  if  the  result  of  earnest 
1* 


6  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

purpose  ;  but  how  it  is  to  be  carried  out  practically,  how 
ladies  do  give  uj),  and  what  general  imj)rL'ssion  is  made  ou 
creation  when  they  do,  has  never  yet  aj)peared.  Certainly 
the  sea  seems  to  care  very  little  about  the  threat,  for  he  goes 
on  lurching  all  bands  about  just  as  freely  afterwards  as 
before. 

There  are  always  some  three  or  four  in  a  hundred  who 
escape  all  these  evils.  They  are  not  sick,  and  they  seem  to 
be  having  a  good  time  generally,  and  always  meet  you  with 
"  What  a  charming  run  we  are  having !  Isn't  it  delightful  ?  '* 
and  so  on.  If  you  have  a  turn  for  being  disinterested,  you 
can  console  your  miseries  by  a  view  of  their  joyousness. 
Three  or  four  of  our  ladies  were  of  this  happy  order,  and  it 
was  really  refreshing  to  see  them. 

For  my  part,  I  was  less  fortunate.  I  could  not  and  would 
not  give  up  and  become  one  of  the  ghosts  below,  and  so  I 
managed,  by  keeping  on  deck  and  trj'ing  to  act  as  if  nothing 
was  the  matter,  to  lead  a  very  uncertain  and  precarious  exist- 
ence, though  with  a  most  awful  undertone  of  emotion,  which 
seemed  to  make  quite  another  thing  of  creation. 

I  wonder  that  people  who  wanted  to  break  the  souls  of 
heroes  and  martyrs  never  thought  of  sending  them  to  sea 
and  keeping  them  a  little  seasick.  The  dungeons  of  01- 
mutz,  the  leads  of  Venice,  in  short,  all  the  naughty,  wicked 
places  that  tyrants  ever  invented  for  bringing  down  the 
spirits  of  heroes,  are  nothing  to  the  berth  of  a  ship.  Get 
Lafayette,  Kossuth,  or  the  noblest  of  woman  born,  prostrate 
in  a  swinging,  dizzy  berth  of  one  of  these  sea  cooj^s,  called 
state  rooms,  and  I'll  warrant  almost  any  compromise  might 
be  got  out  of  them. 

Where  in  the  world  tlie  soul  goes  to  under  such  influences 


SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS.  7 

nobody  knows  ;  one  would  really  think  the  sea  tipped  it  all 
out  of  a  man,  just  as  it  does  the  water  out  of  his  wash  basin. 
The  soul  seems  to  be  like  one  of  the  genii  enclosed  in  a  vase, 
in  the  Arabian  Nights ;  now,  it  rises  like  a  pillar  of  cloud, 
and  floats  over  land  and  sea,  buoyant,  many-hued,  and  glo- 
rious; again,  it  goes  down,  down,  subsiding  into  its  copper 
vase,  and  the  cover  is  clapped  on,  and  there  you  are.  A  sea 
voyage  is  the  best  device  for  getting  the  soul  back  into  its 
vase  that  I  know  of. 

But  at  night !  —  the  beauties  of  a  night  on  shipboard !  — 
down  in  your  berth,  with  the  sea  hissing  and  fizzing,  gurgling 
and  booming,  within  an  inch  of  your  ear ;  and  then  the  stew- 
ard comes  along  at  twelve  o'clock  and  puts  out  your  light,  and 
there  you  are !  Jonah  in  the  whale  was  not  darker  or  more 
dismal.  There,  in  profound  ignorance  and  blindness,  you  lie, 
and  feel  yourself  rolled  upwards,  and  downwards,  and  side- 
wise,  and  all  ways,  like  a  cork  in  a  tub  of  water ;  much  such 
a  sensation  as  one  might  suppose  it  to  be,  were  one  headed 
up  in  a  barrel  and  thi'own  into  the  sea. 

Occasionally  a  wave  comes  with  a  thump  against  your  ear, 
as  if  a  great  hammer  were  knocking  on  your  barrel,  to  see 
that  all  within  was  safe  and  sound.  Then  you  begin  to  think 
of  krakens,  and  sharks,  and  porpoises,  and  sea  serpents,  and 
all  the  monstrous,  slimy,  cold,  hobgoblin  brood,  who,  perhaps, 
are  your  next  door  neighbors  ;  and  the  old  blue-haired  Ocean 
whispers  through  the  planks,  "  Here  you  are ;  I've  got  you. 
Your  grand  ship  is  my  plaything.  I  can  do  what  I  like 
with  it." 

Then  you  hear  every  kind  of  odd  noise  in  the  ship  —  creak- 
ing, straining,  crunching,  scraping,  pounding,  whistling,  blow- 
ing off  steam,  each  of  which  to  your  unpractised  ear  is  sig- 


8  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

nificant  of  some  impending  catastrophe  ;  you  lie  wide  awake, 
listening  with  all  your  might,  as  if  your  watching  did  any 
good,  till  at  last  sleep  overcomes  you,  and  the  morning  light 
convinces  you  that  nothing  very  particular  has  been  the 
matter,  and  tliat  all  these  frightful  noises  are  only  the  neces- 
sary attendants  of  what  is  called  a  good  run. 

Our  voyage  out  was  called  "a  good  run."  It  was  voted, 
unanimously,  to  be  "an  extraordinarily  good  passage,"  "a 
pleasant  voyage;"  yet  the  ship  rocked  the  whole  time  from 
side  to  side  with  a  steady,  dizzy,  continuous  motion,  like  a 
great  cradle.  I  had  a  new  sympathy  for  babies,  poor  little 
things,  who  are  rocked  hours  at  a  time  without  so  much  as 
a  "by  your  leave"  in  the  case.  No  wonder  there  are  so 
many  stupid  people  in  the  world. 

There  is  no  place  where  killing  time  is  so  much  of  a  sys- 
tematic and  avowed  object  as  in  one  of  these  short  runs. 
In  a  six  months'  voyage  people  give  up  to  their  situation, 
and  make  arrangements  to  live  a  regular  life;  but  the  ten 
days  that  now  divide  England  and  America  are  not  long 
enough  for  any  thing.  The  great  question  is  how  to'  get 
them  off;  they  are  set  up,  like  tenpins,  to  be  bowled  at ; 
and  happy  he  whose  ball  prospers.  People  with  strong  heads, 
who  can  stand  the  incessant  swing  of  the  boat,  may  read  or 
write.  Then  there  is  one's  berth,  a  never-failing  resort, 
where  one  may  analyze  at  one's  leisure  the  life  and  emotions 
of  an  oyster  in  the  mud.  Walking  the  deck  is  a  means  of 
getting  off  some  half  hours  more.  If  a  sliip  heaves  in  sight, 
or  a  porpoise  tumbles  up,  or,  better  still,  a  whale  spouts,  it 
makes  an  immense  sensation. 

Our  favorite  resort  is  by  the  old  red  smoke  pipe  of  tlie 
steamer,  which  rises  warm  and  luminous  as  a  sort  of  tower 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS.  9 

of  defence.  The  wind  must  blow  an  uncommon  variety  of 
ways  at  once  when  you  cannot  find  a  sheltered  side,  as  well 
as  a  i^lace  to  warm  your  feet.  In  fact,  the  old  smoke  pipe  is 
the  domestic  hearth  of  the  ship ;  there,  with  the  double  con- 
venience of  warmth  and  fresh  air,  you  can  sit  by  the  railing, 
and,  looking  down,  command  the  prospect  of  the  cook's  offices, 
the  cow  house,  pantries,  &;c. 

Our  cook  has  specially  interested  me  —  a  tall,  slender, 
melancholy  man,  with  a  watery-blue  eye,  a  patient,  dejected 
visage,  like  an  individual  weary  of  the  storms  and  commotions 
of  life,  and  thoroughly  impressed  with  the  vanity  of  human 
wishes.  I  sit  there  hour  after  hour  watching  him,  and  it  is 
evident  that  he  performs  all  his  duties  in  this  frame  of  sad 
composure.  Now  I  see  liim  resignedly  stuffing  a  turkey,  anon 
compounding  a  sauce,  or  mournfully  making  little  ripples  in 
the  crust  of  a  tart ;  but  all  is  done  under  an  evident  sense  that 
it  is  of  no  use  trying. 

Many  complaints  have  been  made  of  our  coffee  since  we 
have  been  on  board,  which,  to  say  the  truth,  has  been  as 
unsettled  as  most  of  the  social  questions  of  our  day,  and, 
perhaps,  for  that  reason  quite  as  generally  unpalatable ;  but 
since  I  have  seen  our  cook,  I  am  quite  persuaded  that  the 
coffee,  like  other  works  of  great  artists,  has  borrowed  the  hues 
of  its  maker's  mind.  I  think  I  hear  him  sohloquize  over  it 
— "  To  what  purpose  is  coffee?  —  of  what  avail  tea?  — thick 
or  clear  ?  —  all  is  passing  away  —  a  little  egg,  or  fish  skin, 
more  or  less,  what  are  they?"  and  so  we  get  melancholy 
coffee  and  tea,  owing  to  our  philosophic  cook. 

After  dinner  I  watch  him  as  he  washes  dishes :  he  hangs 
up  a  whole  row  of  tin ;  the  ship  gives  a  lurch,  and  knocks 
them  all  down.     He  looks  as  if  it  was  just  what  he  expected. 


10        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

"  Such  is  life  ! "  he  pays,  as  he  pursues  a  frisky  tin  pan  in 
one  direction,  and  arrests  the  gambols  of  the  ladle  in  another ; 
while  the  wicked  sea,  meanwhile,  with  another  lurch,  is  up- 
setting all  his  dishwater.  I  can  see  how  these  daily  trials, 
this  performing  of  most  delicate  and  complicated  gastronomic 
operations  in  the  midst  of  such  unsteady,  unsettled  circum- 
stances, have  gradually  given  this  poor  soul  a  despair  of 
living,  and  brought  him  into  this  state  of  philosophic  melan- 
choly. Just  as  Xantippe  made  a  sage  of  Socrates,  this  whis- 
ky, frisky,  stormy  ship  life  has  made  a  sage  of  our  cook. 
Meanwhile,  not  to  do  him  injustice,  let  it  be  recorded,  that  in 
air  dishes  which  require  grave  conviction  and  steady  perse- 
verance, rather  than  hope  and  inspiration,  he  is  eminently 
successful.  Our  table  excels  in  viands  of  a  reflective  and 
solemn  character  ;  mighty  rounds  of  beef,  vast  saddles  of 
mutton,  and  the  whole  tribe  of  meats  in  general,  come  on  in 
a  superior  style.  English  plum  pudding,  a  weighty  and  seri- 
ous performance,  is  exhibited  in  first-rate  order.  The  jelhes 
want  lightness,  —  but  that  is  to  be  expected. 

I  admire  the  thorough  order  and  system  with  which  every 
thing  is  done  on  these  ships.  One  day,  when  the  servants 
came  round,  as  they  do  at  a  certain  time  after  dinner,  and 
screwed  up  the  shelf  of  decanters  and  bottles  out  of  our 
reach,  a  German  gentleman  remarked,  "Ah,  that's  always 
the  way  on  English  ships ;  every  thing  done  at  such  a  time, 
without  saying  '  by  your  leave.'  If  it  had  been  on  an  Ameri- 
can ship  now,  he  would  have  said,  '  Gentlemen,  are  you  ready 
to  have  this  shelf  raised  ? ' " 

No  doubt  this  remark  is  true  and  extends  to  a  good  many 
other  things ;  but  in  a  ship  in  the  middle  of  the  ocean,  when 
the  least  confusion  or  irregularity  in  certain  cases  might  be 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        11 

destruction  to  all  on  board,  it  does  inspire  confidence  to  see 
that  there  is  even  in  the  minutest  things  a  strong  and  steady 
system,  that  goes  on  without  saying  "  by  your  leave.'*  Even 
the  rigidness  Tvith  which  lights  are  all  extinguished  at  twelve 
o'clock,  though  it  is  very  hard  in  some  cases,  still  gives  you 
confidence  in  the  watchfulness  and  care  with  which  all  on 
board  is  conducted. 

On  Sunday  there  was  a  service.  "We  went  into  the  cabin, 
and  saw  prayer  books  arranged  at  regular  intervals,  and  soon 
a  procession  of  the  sailors  neatly  dressed  filed  in  and  took 
their  places,  together  with  such  passengers  as  felt  disposed, 
and  the  order  of  morning  prayer  was  read.  The  sailors  all 
looked  serious  and  attentive.  I  could  not  but  think  that  this 
feature  of  the  management  of  her  majesty's  ships  was  a  good 
one,  and  worthy  of  imitation.  To  be  sure,  one  can  say  it  is 
only  a  form.  Granted ;  but  is  not  a  serious,  respectful  form 
of  religion  better  than  nothing  ?  Besides,  I  am  not  willing  to 
think  that  these  intelligent-looking  sailors  could  listen  to  all 
those  devout  sentiments  expressed  in  the  prayers,  and  the 
holy  truths  embodied  in  the  passages  of  Scripture,  and  not 
gain  something  from  it.  It  is  bad  to  have  only  the  form  of 
religion,  but  not  so  bad  as  to  have  neither  the  form  nor 
the  fact. 

"When  the  ship  has  been  out  about  eight  days,  an  evident 
bettering  of  spirits  and  condition  obtains  among  the  passen- 
gers. Many  of  the  sick  ones  take  heart,  and  appear  again 
among  the  walks  and  ways  of  men ;  the  ladies  assemble  in 
little  knots,  and  talk  of  getting  on  shore.  The  more  knowing 
ones,  who  have  travelled  before,  embrace  this  opportunity  to 
show  their  knowledge  of  life  by  telling  the  new  hands  all 
sorts  of  hobj^oblin  stories  about  the  custom  house  officers  and 


12  8UNNY    ME3I0RIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

the  difTicultics  of  getting  landed  in  England.  It  is  a  curi- 
ous fact,  that  old  travellers  generally  seem  to  take  this  par- 
ticular delight  in  striking  consternation  into  younger  ones. 

"You'll  have  all  your  daguerreotypes  taken  away,"  says 
one  lady,  >vho,  in  right  of  having  crossed  the  ocean  nine 
times,  is  entitled  to  speak  ex  cathedra  on  the  subject. 

"  All  our  daguerreotypes ! "  shriek  four  or  five  at  once. 
«  Tray  tell,  what  for  ?  " 

"  They  will  do  it,"  says  the  knowing  lady,  with  an  awful 
nod ;  "  unless  you  hide  them  and  all  your  books,  they'll  burn 
up " 

"  Burn  our  books  ! "  exclaim  the  circle.  "  0,  di-eadful ! 
What  do  they  do  that  for?" 

"  They're  very  particular  always  to  burn  up  all  your  books. 
I  knew  a  lady  who  had  a  dozen  burned,"  says  the  wise  one. 

"  Dear  me !  will  they  take  our  dresses  ? "  says  a  young 
lady,  with  increasing  alarm. 

"No,  but  they'll  pull  every  thing  out,  and  tumble  them 
well  over,  I  can  tell  you." 

"  How  horrid  !  " 

An  old  lady,  who  has  been  very  sick  all  the  way,  is  revived 
by  this  appalling  intelligence. 

"  I  hope  they  won't  tumble  over  my  caps  !  "  she  exclaims. 

"  Yes,  they  will  have  every  thing  out  on  deck,"  says  the 
lady,  delighted  with  the  increasing  sensation.  "I  tell  you 
you  don't  know  these  custom  house  officers." 

"It's  too  bad!"  "It's  dreadful!"  "How  horrid!"  ex- 
claim all. 

"  I  shall  put  my  best  things  in  my  pocket,"  exclaims  one. 
"  They  don't  search  our  pockets,  do  they  ?  " 

"Well,  no,  not  here;  but  I  tell  you  they'll  search  your 
pockets  at  Antwerp  and  Brussels,"  says  the  lady. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        13 

Somebody  catches  tlie  sound,  and  flies  off  into  the  state 
rooms  with  the  intelligence  that  "  the  custom  house  officers  are 
so  dreadful  —  they  rip  open  your  trunks,  pull  out  all  your 
things,  burn  your  books,  take  away  your  daguerreotypes,  and 
even  search  your  pockets;"  and  a  row  of  groans  is  heard 
ascending  from  the  row  of  state  rooms,  as  all  begin  to  revolve 
what  they  have  in  their  trunks,  and  what  they  are  to  do  in 
this  emergency. 

"  Pray  tell  me,"  said  I  to  a  gentlemanly  man,  who  had 
crossed  four  or  five  times,  "  is  there  really  so  much  annoyance 
at  the  custom  house  ?  " 

"  Annoyance,  ma'am  ?     No,  not  the  slightest." 

"  But  do  they  really  turn  out  the  contents  of  the  trunks, 
and  take  away  people's  daguerreotypes,  and  bum  their 
books  ?  " 

"  Nothing  of  the  kind,  ma'am.  I  apprehend  no  difficulty. 
I  never  had  any.  There  are  a  few  articles  on  which  duty  is 
charged.  I  have  a  case  of  cigars,  for  instance ;  I  shall  sliov/ 
them  to  the  custom  house  officer,  and  pay  the  duty.  If  a  per- 
son seems  disposed  to  be  fair,  there  is  no  difficulty.  The 
examination  of  ladies'  trunks  is  merely  nominal ;  nothing  is 
deranged." 

So  it  proved.  "We  arrived  on  Sunday  morning ;  the  cus- 
tom house  officers,  very  gentlemanly  men,  came  on  board ;  our 
luggage  was  all  set  out,  and  passed  through  a  rapid  examina- 
tion, which  in  many  cases  amounted  only  to  opening  the 
trunk  and  shutting  it,  and  all  was  over.  The  whole  cere- 
mony did  not  occupy  two  hours. 

So  ends  this  letter.  You  shall  hear  further  how  we  landed 
at  some  future  time. 

VOL.  T.  2 


14  SUNNY   ME3IORIE3    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 


LETTER    II. 

Dear  Father:  — 

It  was  on  Sunday  morning  that  we  first  came  in  sight  of 
land.  The  day  was  one  of  a  thousand  —  clear,  calm,  and 
briglit.  It  is  one  of  those  strange,  throbbing  feelings,  that 
come  only  once  in  a  while  in  life ;  this  waking  up  to  find  an 
ocean  crossed  and  long-lost  land  restored  again  in  another  hemi- 
sphere ;  something  like  what  we  should  suppose  might  be  the 
thrill  of  awakening  from  life  to  immortality,  and  all  the  won- 
ders of  the  world  unknown.  That  low,  green  line  of  land  in 
the  horizon  is  Ireland ;  and  we,  with  water  smooth  as  a  lake 
and  sails  furled,  are  running  within  a  mile  of  the  shore.  Ev- 
ery body  on  deck,  full  of  spirits  and  expectation,  busy  as  can 
be  looking  through  spyglasses,  and  exclaiming  at  every  object 
on  shore,  — 

"  Look  !  there's  Skibareen,  where  the  worst  of  the  famine 
was,"  says  one. 

"  Look  !  that's  a  ruined  Martcllo  tower,"  says  another. 

We  new  voyagers,  who  had  never  seen  any  ruin  more  im- 
posing than  that  of  a  cow  house,  and,  of  course,  were  rave- 
nous for  old  towers,  were  now  quite  wide  awake,  but  were 
disappointed  to  learn  that  these  were  only  custom  house  ren- 
dezvous.   Here  is  the  county  of  Cork.    Some  one  calls  out, — 

"  There  is  O'Connell's  house  ; "  and  a  warm  dispute  ensues 
whether  a  large  mansion,  with  a  stone  chapel  by  it,  answers 
to  that  name.  At  all  events  the  region  looks  desolate  enough, 
and  they  say  tlie  natives  of  it  are  almost  savages.     A  passen- 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        15 

ger  remai'ks,  that  "  O'Connell  never  really  did  any  thing  for 
the  Irish,  but  lived  on  his  capacity  for  exciting  their  enthu- 
siasm." Thereupon  another  expresses  great  contempt  for 
the  Irish  who  could  be  so  taken  in.  Nevertheless,  the  capa- 
bility of  a  disinterested  enthusiasm  is,  on  the  whole,  a  nobler 
property  of  a  human  being  than  a  shrewd  self-interest.  I  like 
the  Irish  all  the  better  for  it. 

Now  we  pass  Kinsale  lighthouse  ;  there  is  the  spot  where 
the  Albion  was  wrecked.  It  is  a  bare,  frowning  cliff,  with 
walls  of  rock  rising  perpendicularly  out  of  the  sea.  Now,  to 
be  sure,  the  sea  smiles  and  sparkles  around  the  base  of  it,  as 
gently  as  if  it  never  could  storm ;  yet  under  other  skies,  and 
with  a  fierce  south-east  wind,  how  the  waves  would  pour  in 
here  !  Woe  then  to  the  distressed  and  rudderless  vessel  that 
drifts  towards  those  fatal  rocks  !  This  gives  the  outmost  and 
boldest  view  of  the  point. 


View  East  of  Kinsale. 


The  Albion  struck  just  round  the  left  of  the  point,  where 
the  rock  rises  perpendicularly  out  of  the  sea.  I  well  remem- 
ber, when  a  child,  of  the  newspapers  being  filled  with  the 
dreadful  story  of  the  wreck  of  the  ship  Albion  —  how  for 
hours,  rudderless  and  helpless,  they  saw  themselves  driving 
with  inevitable  certainty  against  these  pitiless  rocks ;  and  how, 
in  the  last  struggle,  one  human  being  after  another  was  dashed 
against  them  in  helpless  agony. 


16      suxMV  mi:mui:ii:s  of  foukign  lands. 

What  an  infinite  deal  of  misery  results  from  man's  helpless- 
ness and  ignorance  and  nature's  inflexibility  in  this  one  matter 
of  crossing  the  ocean  !  What  agonies  of  prayer  there  were 
during  all  the  long  hours  that  this  ship  was  driving  straiglit 
on  to  these  fatal  rocks,  all  to  no  purpose !  It  struck  and 
crushed  just  the  same.  Surely,  without  the  revelation  of 
God  in  Jesus,  who  could  believe  in  the  divine  goodness  ?  I 
do  not  wonder  the  old  Greeks  so  often  spoke  of  their  gods  as 
cruel,  and  beheved  the  universe  was  governed  by  a  remorse- 
less and  inexorable  fate.  Who  would  come  to 'any  other  con- 
clusion, except  from  the  pages  of  the  Bible  ? 

But  we  have  sailed  far  past  Kinsale  point.  Now  blue  and 
shadowy  loom  up  the  distant  form  of  the  Youghal  Mountains, 
(pronounced  Toole.)  The  surface  of  the  water  is  alive  with 
fisliing  boats,  spreading  their  white  wings  and  skimming  about 
like  so  many  moth  millers. 

About  nine  o'clock  we  were  crossing  the  sand  bar,  which 
lies  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mersey  River,  running  up  towards 
Liverpool.  Our  signal  pennants  are  fluttering  at  the  mast 
head,  pilot  full  of  energy  on  one  wheel  house,  and  a  man 
casting  the  lead  on  the  other. 

"  By  the  mark,  five,"  says  the  man.  The  pilot,  with  all  his 
energy,  is  telegraphing  to  the  steersman.  This  is  a  very 
close  and  complicated  piece  of  navigation,  I  should  think,  this 
running  up  the  Mersey,  for  every  moment  we  are  passing 
some  kind  of  a  signal  token,  which  warns  off  from  some  shoal. 
Here  is  a  bell  buoy,  where  the  waves  keep  the  bell  always 
tolling ;  here,  a  buoyant  hghthouse ;  and  "  See  there,  those 
shoals,  how  pokerish  they  look  !  "  says  one  of  the  passengers, 
pointing  to  the  foam  on  our  starboard  bow.  All  is  bustle, 
animation,  exultation.  Now  float  out  the  American  stars  and 
stripes  on  our  bow. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        17 

Before  us  lies  the  great  city  of  Liverpool.  No  old  cathe- 
dral, no  castles,  a  real  New  Yorkish  place. 

"There,  that's  the  fort,"  cries  one.  Bang,  bang,  go  the 
two  guns  from  our  forward  gangway. 

"  I  wonder  if  they  will  fire  from  the  fort,"  says  another. 

"  How  green  that  grass  looks  !  "  says  a  third ;  "  and  what 
pretty  cottages  ! " 

"  All  modern,  though,"  says  somebody,  in  tones  of  disap- 
pointment. Now  we  are  passing  the  Victoria  Dock.  Bang, 
bang,  again.  We  are  in  a  forest  of  ships  of  all  nations ;  their 
masts  bristling  like  the  tall  pines  in  Maine ;  their  many  col- 
ored flags  streaming  like  the  forest  leaves  in  autumn. 

"  Hark,"  says  one  ;  "  there's  a  chime  of  bells  from  the  city ; 
how  sweet !     I  had  quite  forgotten  it  was  Sunday." 

Here  we  cast  anchor,  and  the  small  steam  tender  comes 
puffing  alongside.  Now  for  the  custom  house  officers.  State 
rooms,  holds,  and  cabins  must  all  give  up  their  trunks ;  a  gen- 
eral muster  among  the  baggage,  and  passenger  after  passenger 
comes  forward  as  their  names  are  called,  much  as  follows  : 
"  Snooks."  "  Here,  sir."  "  Any  thing  contraband  here,  Mr. 
Snooks  ?     Any  cigars,  tobacco,  &:c.  ?  "     "  Nothing,  sir." 

A  little  unlocking,  a  little  fumbling.  "  Shut  up  ;  all  right ; 
ticket  here."  And  a  little  man  pastes  on  each  article  a  slip 
of  paper,  with  the  royal  arms  of  England  and  the  magical 
letters  V.  R.,  to  remind  all  men  that  they  have  come  into  a 
country  where  a  lady  reigns,  and  of  course  must  behave  them- 
selves as  prettily  as  they  can. 

We  were  inquiring  of  some  friends  for  the  most  convenient 
hotel,  when  we  found  the  son  of  Mr.  Cropper,  of  Dingle  Bank, 
waiting  in  the  cabin,  to  take  us  with  him  to  their  hospitable 
abode.     In  a  few  moments  after  the  baggage  had  been  exam- 


18  SLNXY    MtMORIKS    OF    TOKEIGN    LANDS. 

ined,  -we  all  bade  adieu  to  the  old  ship,  and  went  on  board  the 
little  steam  tender,  -which  carries  passengers  up  to  the  city. 

This  Mersey  River  would  be  a  very  beautiful  one,  if  it 
were  not  so  dingy  and  muddy.  As  we  are  sailing  up  in 
the  tender  towards  Liverpool,  I  deplore  the  circumstance  feel- 
ingly.    "  What  does  make  this  river  so  muddy  ?  " 

"  O,"  says  a  bystander,  "  don't  you  know  that 

♦  The  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strained '  ?  " 

And  now  we  are  fairly  alongside  the  shore,  and  we  are 
soon  going  to  set  our  foot  on  the  land  of  Old  England. 

Say  what  we  will,  an  American,  particularly  a  New  Eng- 
lander,  can  never  approach  the  old  country  without  a  kind 
of  tlirill  and  pulsation  of  kindred.  Its  history  for  two  centu- 
ries was  our  history.  Its  literature,  laws,  and  language  are 
our  literature,  laws,  and  language.  Spenser,  Shakspeare, 
Bacon,  Milton,  were  a  glorious  inheritance,  which  we  share 
in  common.  Our  very  life-blood  is  EngUsh  life-blood.  It  is 
Anglo-Saxon  vigor  that  is  spreading  our  country  from  Atlan- 
tic to  Pacific,  and  leading  on  a  new  era  in  the  world's  devel- 
opment. America  is  a  tall,  sightly  young  shoot,  that  has 
grown  from  the  old  royal  oak  of  England ;  divided  from  its 
parent  root,  it  has  shot  up  in  new,  rich  soil,  and  under  genial, 
brilliant  skies,  and  therefore  takes  on  a  new  type  of  growth 
and  foliage,  but  the  sap  in  it  is  the  same. 

I  had  an  early  opportunity  of  making  acquaintance  with 
my  English  brethren ;  for,  much  to  my  astonishment,  I 
found  quite  a  crowd  on  the  wharf,  and  we  walked  up  to  our 
carriage  through  a  long  lane  of  people,  bowing,  and  looking 
very  glad  to  see  us.  When  I  came  to  get  into  the  hack  it 
was  surrounded  by  more  faces  than  I  could  count.     They 


SUNNY   MEMOllIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  19 

stood  very  quietly,  and  looked  very  kindly,  though  evidently 
very  much  determined  to  look.  Something  prevented  the 
hack  from  moving  on;  so  the  interview  was  prolonged  for 
some  time.  I  therefore  took  occasion  to  remark  the  very 
fair,  pure  complexions,  the  clear  eyes,  and  the  general  air  of 
health  and  vigor,  which  seem  to  characterize  our  brethren 
and  sisters  of  the  island.  There  seemed  to  be  no  occasion 
to  ask  them  how  they  did,  as  they  were  evidently  quite  well. 
Indeed,  this  air  of  health  is  one  of  the  most  striking  things 
when  one  lands  in  England. 

They  were  not  burly,  red-faced,  and  stout,  as  I  had  some- 
times conceived  of  the  English  people,  but  just  full  enough  to 
suggest  the  idea  of  vigor  and  health.  The  presence  of  so 
many  healthy,  rosy  people  looking  at  me,  all  reduced  as  I 
was,  first  by  land  and  then  by  sea  sickness,  made  me  feel  my- 
self more  withered  and  forlorn  than  ever.  But  there  was 
an  earnestness  and  a  depth  of  kind  feeling  in  some  of  the 
faces,  which  I  shall  long  remember.  It  seemed  as  if  I  had 
not  only  touched  the  English  shore,  but  felt  the  English 
heart. 

Our  carriage  at  last  drove  on,  taking  us  through  Liverpool, 
and  a  mile  or  two  out,  and  at  length  wound  its  way  along  the 
gravel  paths  of  a  beautiful  little  retreat,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mersey,  called  the  "  Dingle."  It  opened  to  my  eyes  like  a 
paradise,  all  wearied  as  I  was  with  the  tossing  of  the  sea.  I 
have  since  become  familiar  with  these  beautiful  little  spots, 
which  are  so  common  in  England ;  but  now  all  was  entirely 
new  to  me. 

We  rode*  by  shining  clumps  of  the  Portugal  laurel,  a 
beautiful  evergreen,  much  resembling  our  mountain  rhodo- 
deudi'on ;  then  there  was  the  prickly,  polished,  dark-green 


20  SLNNT    MKMOUIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

liolly,  which  I  had  never  seen  before,  but  which  is,  certain- 
ly, one  of  the  most  perfect  of  shrubs.  The  tuif  was  of 
that  soft,  dazzling  green,  and  had  that  peculiar  velvet-like 
smoothness,  which  seem  characteristic  of  England.  We 
stopped  at  last  before  the  door  of  a  cottage,  whose  porch  was 
overgrown  with  ivy.  From  that  moment  I  ceased  to  feel 
myself  a  stranger  in  England.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  de- 
lightful to  me,  dizzy  and  weary  as  I  was,  was  the  first  sight 
of  the  chamber  of  reception  which  had  been  prepared  for 
us.  No  item  of  cozy  comfort  that  one  could  desire  was  omit- 
ted. The  sofa  and  easy  chair  wheeled  up  before  a  cheerful 
coal  fire,  a  bright  little  teakettle  steaming  in  front  of  the  grate, 
a  table  wuth  a  beautiful  vase  of  flowers,  books,  and  writing 
ajiparatus,  and  kind  friends  with  words  full  of  affectionate 
cheer,  —  all  these  made  me  feel  at  home  in  a  moment. 

The  hospitality  of  England  has  become  famous  in  the 
world,  and,  I  think,  with  reason.  I  doubt  not  there  is  just 
as  much  hospitable  feeling  in  other  countries ;  but  in  England 
the  matter  of  coziness  and  home  comfort  has  been  so  studied, 
and  matured,  and  reduced  to  system,  that  they  really  have  it 
in  their  power  to  effect  more,  towards  making  their  guests 
comfortable,  than  perhaps  any  other  people. 

After  a  short  season  allotted  to  changing  our  ship  garments 
and  for  rest,  we  found  ourselves  seated  at  the  dinner  table. 
While  dining,  the  sister-in-law  of  our  friends  came  in  from 
the  next  door,  to  exchange  a  word  or  two  of  welcome,  and 
invite  us  to  breakfast  with  them  the  following:  morninj]^. 

Between  all  the  excitements  of  landing,  and  meeting  so 
many  new  faces,  and  the  remains  of  the  dizzy  motion  of  the 
ship,  which  still  haunted  me,  I  found  it  impossible  to  close 
my  eyes  to  sleep  that  first  night  till  the  dim  gray  of  daAvn. 


SUNNY    31EMOKIES    OF    FOltElGN    LANDS. 


21 


I  got  up  as  soon  as  it  was  light,  and  looked  out  of  the  window ; 

and  as  my  eyes  feU  on  the  luxuriant,  ivy-covered  porch,  the 

clumps  of  shining,  dai'k-green  hoUy  bushes,  I  said  to  myself, 

"  Ah,  really,  this  is  England  !  " 

I  never  saw  any  plant  that  struck  me  as  more  beautiful 

than  this  holly.     It  is  a  dense  shrub  growing  from  six  to 

eight  feet  high,  with  a  thickly  varnished  leaf  of  green.     The 

outline  of  the  leaf  is  something  like 

this.      I  do  not  believe  it  can   ever 

come  to  a  state  of  perfect  development 

under  the^  fierce  alternations  of  heat 

and  cold   which   obtain   in   our   New 

England  clunate,  though  it  grows  in 

the  Southern  States.  It  is  one  of  the 
symbolical  shrubs  of  England,  proba- 
bly because  its  bright  green  in  winter 
makes  it  so  splendid  a  Christmas  deco- 
ration. A  little  bird  sat  twittering  on 
one  of  the  sprays.  He  had  a  bright  red  breast,  and  seemed 
evidently  to  consider  himself  of  good  blood  and  famUy,  with 
the  best  reason,  as  I  afterwards  learned,  smce  he  was  no  other 
than  the  identical  robin  redbreast  renowned  in  song  and 
story;  undoubtedly  a  lineal  descendant  of  that  very  cock 
robin  whose  death  and  burial  form  so  vivid  a  portion  of 
our  childish  literature. 

I  must  tell  you,  then,  as  one  of  the  first  remarks  on  mat- 
ters and  things  here  in  England,  that  "robin  redbreast"  is 
not  at  all  the  fellow  we  in  America  take  him  to  be.  The 
character  who  flourishes  under  that  name  among  us  is  quite 
a  different  bird ;  he  is  twice  as  large,  and  has  ahogether  a 
different  air,  and  as  he  sits  up  with  military  erectness  on  a 


22        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

rail  fence  or  stump,  shows  not  even  a  family  likeness  to  his 
diminutive  English  namesake.  Well,  of  course,  robin  over 
here  will  claim  to  have  the  real  family  estate  and  title,  since 
he  lives  in  a  country  where  such  matters  are  understood  and 
looked  into.  Our  robin  is  probably  some  fourth  cousin,  who, 
like  others,  has  struck  out  a  new  course  for  himself  in  Ameri- 
ca, and  thrives  upon  it. 

AVe  hurried  to  dress,  remembering  our  engagements  to 
breakfast  this  morning  with  a  brother  of  our  host,  whose  cot- 
tage stands  on  the  same  ground,  within  a  few  steps  of  our  own. 
I  had  not  the  slightest  idea  of  what  the  English  mean  by  a 
breakfast,  and  therefore  went  in  all  innocence,  supposing  > 
tliat  I  should  see  nobody  but  the  family  circle  of  my  ac- 
quaintances. Quite  to  my  astonishment,  I  found  a  party  of 
between  thirty  and  forty  people.  Ladies  sitting  with  their 
bonnets  on,  as  in  a  morning  call.  It  was  impossible,  however, 
to  feel  more  than  a  momentary  embarrassment  in  the  fnend- 
ly  warmth  and  cordiality  of  the  circle  by  whom  we  were 
surrounded. 

The  English  are  called  cold  and  stiff  in  their  manners  ;  I 
had  always  heard  they  were  so,  but  I  certainly  saw  nothing 
of  it  here.  A  circle  of  family  relatives  could  not  have  re- 
ceived us  with  more  warmth  and  kindness.  The  remark 
which  I  made  mentally,  as  my  eye  passed  around  the  circle, 
was  —  Why,  these  people  are  just  like  home  ;  they  look  like 
us,  and  the  tone  of  sentiment  and  feeling  is  precisely  such  as 
I  have  been  accustomed  to ;  I  mean  with  the  exception  of 
the  antislavery  question. 

That  question  has,  from  the  very  first,  been,  in  England,  a 
deeply  religious  movement.  It  was  conceived  and  carried 
on  by  men  of  devotional  habits,  in  the  same  spirit  in  which 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        23 

the  work  of  foreign  missions  was  undertaken  in  our  own 
country ;  by  just  such  earnest,  self-denying,  devout  men  as 
Samuel  J.  Mills  and  Jeremiah  Evarts. 

It  was  encountered  by  the  same  contempt  and  opposition, 
in  the  outset,  from  men  of  merely  worldly  habits  and  princi- 
ples ;  and  to  this  day  it  retains  that  hold  on  the  devotional 
mind  of  the  English  nation  that  the  foreign  mission  cause 
does  in  America. 

Liverpool  was  at  first  to  the  antislavery  cause  nearly  what 
New  York  has  been  with  us.  Its  commercial  interests  were 
largely  implicated  in  the  slave  trade,  and  the  virulence  of 
opposition  towards  the  first  movers  of  the  antislavery  reform 
in  Liverpool  was  about  as  great  as  it  is  now  against  aboli- 
tionists in  Charleston. 

When  Clarkson  first  came  here  to  prosecute  his  inquiries 
into  the  subject,  a  mob  collected  around  him,  and  endeavored 
to  throw  him  off  the  dock  into  the  water ;  he  was  rescued 
by  a  gentleman,  some  of  whose  descendants  I  met  on  this 
occasion. 

The  father  of  our  host,  Mr.  Cropper,  was  one  of  the  first 
and  most  efficient  supporters  of  the  cause  in  Liverpool ;  and 
the  whole  circle  was  composed  of  those  who  had  taken  a 
deep  interest  in  that  struggle.  The  wife  of  our  host  was  the 
daughter  of  the  celebrated  Lord  Chief  Justice  Denman,  a 
man  who,  for  many  years,  stood  unrivalled,  at  the  head  of 
the  legal  mind  in  England,  and  who,  with  a  generous  ardor 
seldom  equalled,  devoted  all  his  energies  to  this  sacred  cause. 

When  the  pubUcation  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  turned  the 
attention  of  the  British  public  to  the  existing  horrors  of 
slavery  in  America,  some  palliations  of  the  system  appeared 
in  English  papers.     Lord  Denman,  though  then  in  delicate 


24  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

liealth  and  advanced  years,  wrote  a  series  of  letters  upon  the 
subject  —  an  exertion  -svhicli  entirely  prostrated  his  before 
feeble  health.  In  one  of  the  addresses  made  at  table,  a  very 
feehng  allusion  was  made  to  Lord  Denman's  labors,  and  also 
to  tho.se  of  the  honored  father  of  the  two  Messrs.  Cropper. 

As  breakfast  parties  are  things  which  we  do  not  have  in 
America,  perhaps  mother  would  like  to  know  just  how  they 
are  managed.  The  hour  is  generally  somewhere  between 
nine  and  twelve,  and  the  whole  idea  and  spirit  of  the  thing 
is  that  of  an  informal  and  social  gathering.  Ladies  keep 
their  bonnets  on,  and  are  not  dressed  in  full  toilet.  On 
this  occasion  we  sat  and  chatted  together  socially  till  the 
whole  party  was  assembled  in  the  drawing  room,  and  then 
breakfast  was  announced.  Each  gentleman  had  a  lady  as- 
signed him,  and  we  walked  into  the  dining  room,  where  stood 
the  tables  tastefully  adorned  with  flowers,  and  spread  with 
an  abundant  cold  collation,  while  tea  and  coffee  were  passed 
round  by  servants.  In  each  plate  was  a  card,  containing 
the  name  of  the  person  for  whom  it  was  designed.  I  took 
my  place  by  the  side  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  McNiel,  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  clergymen  of  the  cstabhshcd  church  m  Liv- 
erpool. 

The  conversation  waa  flowing,  free,  and  friendly.  The  old 
reminiscences  of  the  antislavery  conflict  in  England  were 
touchingly  recalled,  and  the  warmest  sympathy  was  expressed 
for  those  in  America  who  are  carrying  on  the  same  cause. 

In  one  thing  I  was  most  agreeably  disappointed.  I  had 
been  told  that  the  Christians  of  England  were  intolerant  and 
unreasonable  in  their  opinions  on  this  sul>ject ;  that  they 
<'ould  not  be  made  to  understand  the  peculiar  diificuhies  which 
beset  it  in  America,  and  tliat  they  therefore  made  no  distinc- 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  25 

tion  and  no  allowance  in  their  censures.  All  this  I  found,  so 
far  as  this  circle  were  concerned,  to  be  strikingly  untrue. 
They  appeared  to  be  pecuHarly  affectionate  in  their  feelings 
as  regarded  our  country ;  to  have  the  highest  appreciation  of, 
and  the  deepest  sympathy  with,  our  rehgious  community,  and 
to  be  extremely  deskous  to  assist  us  m  our  difficulties.  I 
also  found  them  remarkably  well  informed  upon  the  subject. 
They  keep  their  eyes  upon  our  papers,  our  public  documents 
and  speeches  m  Congress,  and  are  as  well  advised  in  regard 
to  the  progress  of  the  moral  conflict  as  our  Foreign  IVIis- 
sionaiy  Society  is  with  the  state  of  affairs  in  Hindostan  and 
Burmah. 

Several  present  spoke  of  the  part  which  England  origmal- 
ly  had  in  plantmg  slavery  in  America,  as  placing  English 
Christians  under  a  solemn  responsibility  to  bring  every  pos- 
sible moral  influence  to  bear  for  its  extinction.  Nevertheless, 
they  seem  to  be  the  farthest  possible  from  an  unkind  or  de- 
nunciatory spirit,  even  towards  those  most  deeply  unplicated. 
The  remarks  made  by  Dr.  McNiel  to  me  were  a  fair  sample 
of  the  spirit  and  attitude  of  all  present. 

"  I  have  been  trying,  ]\Irs.  S.,"  he  said,  « to  bring  my  mind 
into  the  attitude  of  those  Christians  at  the  south  who  defend 
the  institution  of  slavery.  There  ai-e  real  Christians  there 
who  do  this  —  are  there  not  ?  " 

I  replied,  that  undoubtedly  there  were  some  most  amiable 
and  Christian  people  who  defend  slavery  on  principle,  just  as 
there  had  been  some  to  defend' every  form  of  despotism. 

"  Do  give  me  some  idea  of  the  views  they  take  ;  it  is  some- 
thing to  me  so  mconceivable.  I  am  utterly  at  a  loss  how  it 
can  be  made  m  any  way  plausible." 

I  then  stated  that  the  most  plausible  view,  and  that  which 
VOL.  I.  3 


26        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

seemed  to  have  the  most  force  with  good  men,  was  one  which 
represented  the  institution  of  slavery  as  a  sort  of  wardship 
or  guardian  relation,  by  which  an  inferior  race  were  brought 
under  the  watch  and  care  of  a  superior  race  to  be  hastructed 
in  Christianity. 

He  then  inquired  if  there  was  any  system  of  rehgious 
instruction  actually  pursued. 

In  reply  to  this,  I  gave  him  some  sketch  of  the  operations 
for  the  religious  instruction  of  the  negroes,  which  had  been 
carried  on  by  the  Presbyterian  and  other  denominations.  I 
remarked  that  many  good  people  who  do  not  take  very  ex- 
tended views,  fixing  their  attention  chiefly  on  the  efforts  which 
they  are  making  for  the  religious  instruction  of  slaves,  are 
blind  to  the  sin  and  injustice  of  allowing  then*  legal  position 
to  remain  what  it  is. 

"  But  how  do  they  shut  their  eyes  to  the  various  cruelties 
of  the  system,  —  the  separation  of  families  —  the  domestic 
slave  trade  ?  " 

I  replied,  ''  In  part,  by  not  inquiring  into  them.  The  best 
kind  of  people  are,  in  general,  those  who  know  least  of  the 
cruelties  of  the  system ;  they  never  witness  them.  As  in 
the  city  of  London  or  Liverpool  there  may  be  an  amount 
of  crime  and  suffering  which  many  residents  may  live  years 
without  seeing  or  knowing,  so  it  is  in  the  slave  states." 

Every  person  present  appeared  to  be  in  that  softened  and 
charitable  frame  of  mind  which  disposed  them  to  make  every 
allowance  for  the  situation  of  Christians  so  peculiarly  tempted, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  there  was  the  most  earnest  concern, 
in  view  of  the  dishonor  brought  upon  Christianity  by  the 
defence  of  such  a  system. 

One  other  tlnivj;  1  noticed,  which  was  an  agreeable  disap- 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS.  27 

pointment  to  me.  I  had  been  told  that  there  was  no  social 
intercourse  between  the  established  church  and  dissenters. 
In  this  party,  however,  were  people  of  many  different  denom- 
inations. Our  host  belongs  to  the  established  church ;  his 
brother,  with  whom  we  are  visiting,  is  a  Baptist,  and  their 
father  was  a  Friend ;  and  there  appeared  to  be  the  utmost 
social  cordiahty.  "Wliether  I  shall  find  this  uniformly  the 
case  will  appear  in  time. 

After  the  breakfast  party  was  over,  I  found  at  the  door  an 
array  of  children  of  the  poor,  belonging  to  a  school  kept 
under  the  superintendence  of  Mrs.  E.  Cropper,  and  called, 
as  is  customary  here,  a  ragged  school.  The  children,  how- 
ever, were  any  thing  but  ragged,  being  tidily  dressed,  remark- 
ably clean,  with  glowing  cheeks  and  bright  eyes.  I  must  say, 
so  far  as  I  have  seen  them,  English  children  have  a  much 
healthier  appearance  than  those  of  America.  By  the  side 
of  their  bright  bloom  ours  look  pale  and  faded. 

Another  school  of  the  same  kind  is  kept  in  this  neighbor 
hood,  under  the  auspices  of  Sir  George  Stephen,  a  conspicu- 
ous advocate  of  the  antislavery  cause. 

I  thought  the  fair  patroness  of  this  school  seemed  not  a 
little  delighted  with  the  appearance  of  her  proteges,  as  they 
sung,  with  great  enthusiasm,  Jane  Taylor's  hymn,  com- 
mencing, — 

'  I  thank  the  goodness  and  the  grace 
That  on  my  birth  have  smiled, 
And  made  me  in  these  Christian  days 
A  happy  English  child." 

All  the  little  rogues  were  quite  familiar  with  Topsy  and 
Eva,  and  aufait  in  the  fortunes  of  Uncle  Tom  ;  so  that,  being 
introduced  as  the  maternal   relative  of  these  characters,  I 


28        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

seemed  to  find  favor  in  their  eyes.  And  when  one  of  the 
speakers  congratuhitod  them  that  thoy  were  boni  in  a  land 
wliere  no  child  coukl  be  bought  or  sold,  they  responded  with 
enthusiastic  cheers  —  cheers  which  made  me  feel  rather  sad  ; 
but  still  I  could  not  quarrel  with  English  people  for  taking  all 
the  pride  and  all  the  comfort  which  this  inspiritmg  truth  can 
convey. 

They  had  a  hard  enough  struggle  in  rooting  up  the  old 
weed  of  slavery,  to  justify  them  in  rejoicing  in  their  freedom. 
Well,  the  day  will  come  in  America,  as  I  trust,  when  as  much 
can  be  said  for  us. 

After  the  children  were  gone  came  a  succession  of  calls; 
some  from  very  aged  people,  the  veterans  of  the  old  antisla- 
very  cause.  I  was  astonished  and  overwhelmed  by  the  fervor 
of  feeling  some  of  them  manifested  ;  there  seemed  to  be  some- 
thing almost  prophetic  in  the  enthusiasm  with  which  they 
expressed  their  hope  of  our  final  success  in  America.  This 
excitement,  though  very  pleasant,  was  wearisome,  and  I  was 
glad  of  an  opportunity  after  dinner  to  rest  myself,  by  ram- 
bling uninterrupted,  with  my  friends,  through  the  beautiful 
grounds  of  the  Dingle. 

Two  nice  little  boys  were  my  squires  on  this  occasion,  one 
of  whom,  a  sturdy  little  fellow,  on  being  asked  his  name,  gave 
it  to  me  in  full  as  Joseph  Babington  Macaulay,  and  I  learned 
that  his  motlier,  by  a  former  marriage,  had  been  the  wife  of 
Macaulay's  brother.  Uncle  Tom  Macaulay,  I  found,  was  a 
favorite  character  with  the  young  people.  Master  Harry 
conducted  me  through  the  walks  to  the  conservatories,  all 
brilliant  with  azaleas  and  all  sorts  of  flowers,  and  then  through 
a  long  walk  on  the  banks  of  the  Mersey. 

Here  the  wild  flowers  attracted  my  attention,  as  being  so 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN   LANDS. 


29 


s^^S"^ 


different  from  those  of  our  own  country.  Their  daisy  is  not 
our  flower,  with  its  wide,  plaited  ruff  and  yellow  centre.  The 
English  daisy  is 

"  The  wee  modest  crimson-tipped  flower," 
which  Burns  celebrates.  It  is 
what  we  raise  in  greenhouses, 
and  call  the  mountain  daisy.  Its 
effect,  growing  profusely  about 
fields  and  grass  plats,  is  very 
beautiful. 

We   read    much,   among  the 
poets,  of  the  primrose, 

"  Earliest  daughter  of  the  Spring. 

This  flower  is  one,  also,  which  we  cultivate  in  gardens  to  some 
extent.  The  outline  of  it  is  as  follows :  The  hue  a  delicate 
straw  color ;  it  grows  in  tufts  in  shady  places,  and  has  a  pure, 
serious  look,  which  reminds  one  of  the  line  of  Shakspeare 

"  Pale  primroses,  which  die  unmarried." 

It  has  also  the  faintest  and  most  ethereal  perfume, a  per- 
fume that  seems  to  come  and  go 
in  the  air  like  music ;  and  you 
perceive  it  at  a  little  distance 
from  a  tuft  of  them,  when  you 
would  not  if  you  gathered  and 
smelled  them.  On  the  whole, 
the  primrose  is  a  poet's  and  a 
painter's  flower.  An  artist's  eye 
would  notice  an  exquisite  har- 
mony between  the  yeUow-green  hue  of  its  leaves  and  the 
3* 


.----<*  ^-^^-^ 


30 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS. 


tint  of  its  blossoms.  I  do  not  wonder  that  it  has  been  so 
great  a  favorite  among  the  poets.  It  is  just  such  a  flower  as 
Mozart  and  Kaphacl  would  have  loved. 

Then  there  is  the  bluebell,  a  bulb,  which  also  grows  in 

deep  shades.  It  is  a  litttlc  pur- 
-]  ,  pie  bell,  with  a  narrow  green 
leaf,  like  a  ribbon.  We  often 
^  read  in  English  stories,  of  the 
gorse  and  furze;  these  are  two 
names  for  the  same  plant,  a  low 
bush,  with  strong,  prickly  leaves, 
growing  much  like  a  juniper. 
The  contrast  of  its  very  brilliant 
yellow,  pea-shaped  blossoms,  with 
the  dark  green  of  its  leaves,  is  very  beautiful.  It  grows  here 
in  hedges  and  on  commons,  and  is  thought  rather  a  plebeian 
affair.  I  think  it  would  make  quite  an  addition  to  our  garden 
shrubbery.  Possibly  it  might  make  as  much  sensation  with 
us  as  our  mullein  does  in  foreign  greenhouses. 

After  rambling  a  while,  we  came  to  a  beautiful  summer 
house,  placed  in  a  retired  spot,  so  as  to  command  a  view  of  the 
Mersey  River.  I  think  they  told  me  that  it  was  Lord  Den- 
man's  favorite  seat.  There  we  sat  down,  and  in  common  with 
the  young  gentlemen  and  ladies  of  the  family,  had  quite  a 
pleasant  talk  together.  Among  other  things  we  talked  about 
the  question  which  is  now  agitating  the  public  mind  a  good 
deal,  —  Whether  it  is  expedient  to  open  the  Crystal  Palace 
to  the  people  on  Sunday.  They  said  that  this  course  was 
much  urged  by  some  philanthropists,  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  the  only  day  when  the  working  classes  could  find  any 
leisure  to  visit  it,  and  that  it  seemed  hard  to  shut  them  out 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.        31 

entirely  from  all  the  opportunities  and  advantages  which  they 
might  thus  derive ;  that  to  exclude  the  laborer  from  recrea- 
tion on  the  Sabbath,  was  the  same  as  saying  that  he  should 
never  have  any  recreation.  I  asked,  why  the  philanthropists 
could  not  urge  employers  to  give  their  workmen  a  part  of 
Saturday  for  this  purpose  ;  as  it  seemed  to  me  unchristian  to 
drive  trade  so  that  the  laboring  man  had  no  time  but  Sunday 
for  intellectual  and  social  recreation.  "We  rather  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  this  was  the  right  course ;  whether  the  people 
of  England  will,  is  quite  another  matter. 

The  grounds  of  the  Dmgle  embrace  three  cottages ;  those 
of  the  two  Messrs.  Cropper,  and  that  of  a  son,  who  is  married 
to  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Arnold.     I  rather  think  this  way  of  rel- 
atives living  together  is  more  common  here  in  England  than 
it  is  in  America ;  and  there  is  more  idea  of  home  permanence 
connected  with  the  family  dwelling-place  than  with  us,  where 
the  country  is  so  wide,  and  causes  of  change  and  removal  so 
frequent.     A  man  builds  a  house  in  England  with  the  expec- 
tation of  living  in  it  and  leaving  it  to  his  children ;  while  we 
shed  our  houses  in  America  as  easily  as  a  snail  does  his  shell. 
We  live  a  while  in  Boston,  and  then  a  while  in  New  York, 
and  then,  perhaps,  turn  up  at  Cincinnati.     Scarcely  any  body 
with  us  is  living  where  they  expect  to  live  and  die.     The 
man  that  dies  in  the  house  he  was  born  in  is  a  wonder. 
There  is  something  pleasant  in  the  permanence  and  repose 
of  the  Engh&h  family  estate,  which  we,  in  America,  know 
very  little  of.     All  which  is  apropos  to  our  having  finished 
our  walk,  and  got  back  to  the  ivy-covered  porch  again. 

The  next  day  at  breakfast,  it  was  arranged  that  we  should 
take  a  drive  out  to  Speke  Hall,  an  old  mansion,  wliich  is 
considered!  a  fine  specimen  of  ancient  house  architecture.     So 


32  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    L.VNDS. 

the  carriage  was  at  the  door.  It  was  a  cool,  breezy,  April 
morning,  but  there  was  an  abundance  of  wrappers  and  car- 
riage blankets  provided  to  keep  us  comfortable.  I  must  say, 
by  the  by,  that  English  housekeepers  are  bountiful  in  their 
provision  for  carriage  comfort.  Kvery  household  has  a  store 
of  warm,  loose  over  garments,  which  are  offered,  if  needed, 
to  the  guests ;  and  each  carriage  is  provided  with  one  or  two 
blankets,  manufactured  and  sold  expressly  for  this  use,  to 
envelope  one's  feet  and  limbs  ;  besides  all  which,  should  the 
weather  be  cold,  comes  out  a  long  stone  reservoir,  made  flat 
on  both  sides,  and  filled  with  hot  water,  for  foot  stools.  This 
is  an  improvement  on  the  primitive  simplicity  of  hot  bricks, 
and  even  on  the  tin  foot  stove,  which  has  flourished  in  New 
England. 

Being  thus  provided  with  all  things  necessary  for  comfort, 
we  rattled  merrily  away,  and  I,  remembering  that  I  was  in 
England,  kept  my  eyes  wide  open  to  see  what  I  could  see. 
The  hedges  of  the  fields  were  just  budding,  and  the  green 
showed  itself  on  them,  like  a  thin  gauze  veil.  These  hedges 
are  not  all  so  well  kept  and  trimmed  as  I  expected  to  find  them. 
Some,  it  is  true,  are  cut  very  carefully ;  these  are  generally 
hedges  to  ornamental  grounds  ;  but  many  of  those  which 
separate  the  fields  straggle  and  sprawl,  and  have  some  high 
bushes  and  some  low  ones,  and,  in  short,  are  no  more  like  a 
hedge  than  many  rows  of  bushes  that  we  have  at  home.  But 
such  as  they  are,  they  are  the  only  dividing  lines  of  the  fields, 
and  it  is  certainly  a  more  picturesque  mode  of  division  than 
our  stone  or  worm  fences.  Outside  of  every  hedge,  towards 
the  street,  there  is  generally  a  ditch,  and  at  the  bottom  of  the 
hedge  is  the  favorite  nestling-place  for  all  sorts  of  wild  flow- 
ers.    I  remember  reading  in  stories  about  children  trying  to 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  33 

crawl  tlirough  a  gap  in  the  hedge  to  get  at  flowers,  and  tum- 
bling into  a  ditch  on  the  other  side,  and  I  now  saw  exactly 
how  they  could  do  it. 

As  we  diive  we  pass  by  many  beautiful  establishments, 
about  of  the  quality  of  our  handsomest  country  houses,  but 
whose  grounds  are  kept  with  a  precision  and  exactness  rarely 
to  be  seen  among  us.  "We  cannot  get  the  gardeners  who  are 
qualified  to  do  it ;  and  if  we  could,  the  painstaking,  slow 
way  of  proceeding,  and  the  habit  of  creeping  thoroughness, 
which  are  necessary  to  accomplish  such  results,  die  out  in 
America.  Nevertheless,  such  grounds  are  exceedingly  beau- 
tiful to  look  upon,  and  I  was  much  obliged  to  the  owners 
of  these  places  for  keeping  their  gates  hospitably  open,  as 
seems  to  be  the  custom  here. 

After  a  drive  of  seven  or  eight  miles,  we  alighted  in  front 
of  Speke  Hall.  This  house  is  a  specimen  of  the  old  fortified 
houses  of  England,  and  was  once  fitted  up  with  a  moat  and 
drawbridge,  all  in  approved  feudal  style.  It  was  built  some- 
where about  the  year  1500.  The  sometime  moat  was  now 
fuU  of  smooth,  green  grass,  and  the  drawbridge  no  longer 
remains. 

This  was  the  first  really  old  thing  that  we  had  seen  since 
our  arrival  in  England.  We  came  up  first  to  a  low,  arched, 
stone  door,  and  knocked  with  a  great  old-fashioned  knocker ; 
this  brought  no  answer  but  a  treble  and  bass  duet  from  a 
couple  of  dogs  inside;  so  we  opened  the  door,  and  saw  a 
square  court,  paved  with  round  stones,  and  a  dark,  solitary 
yew  tree  in  the  centre.  Here  in  England,  I  think,  they  have 
vegetable  creations  made  on  purpose  to  go  with  old,  dusky 
buildings ;  and  this  yew  tree  is  one  of  them.  It  has  altogether 
a  most  goblin-like,  bewitched  air,  with  its  dusky  black  leaves 


34        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

and  ragged  branches,  throwing  themselves  straight  out  with 
odd  twists  and  angular  lines,  and  might  put  one  in  mind  of  an 
old  raven  with  some  of  his  feathers  pulled  out,  or  a  black  cat 
with  her  hair  stroked  the  wrong  way,  or  any  other  strange, 
uncanny  thing.  Besides  this  they  live  almost  forever ;  for 
when  they  have  grown  so  old  that  any  respectable  tree  ought 
to  be  thinking  of  dying,  they  only  take  another  twist,  and  so 
live  on  another  hundred  years.  I  saw  some  in  England 
seven  hundred  years  old,  and  they  had  grown  queerer  every 
century.     It  is  a  species  of  evergreen,  and  its  leaf  resembles 

our  hemlock,  only  it  is  longer. 
This  sprig  gives  you  some  idea 
of  its  general  form.  It  is  always 
planted  about  churches  and  grave- 
yards ;  a  kind  of  dismal  emblem 
of  immortality.  This  sepulcliral 
old  tree  and  the  bass  and  treble 
dogs  were  the  only  occupants  of 
the  court.  One  of  these,  a  great 
surly  mastiff,  barked  out  of  his  kennel  on  one  side,  and  the 
other,  a  little  wiry  terrier,  out  of  his  on  the  opposite  side,  and 
both  strained  on  their  chains,  as  if  they  would  enjoy  making 
even  more  decided  demonstrations  if  they  could. 

There  was  an  aged,  mossy  fountain  for  holy  water  by  the 
side  of  the  wall,  in  which  some  weeds  were  growing.  A  door 
in  the  house  was  soon  opened  by  a  decent-looking  serving 
woman,  to  whom  we  communicated  our  desire  to  see  the  hall. 
We  were  shown  into  a  large  dining  hall  with  a  stone  floor, 
wainscoted  with  carved  oak,  almost  as  black  as  ebony.  There 
were  some  pious  sentences  and  moral  reflections  inscribed  in 
old  Enghsh  text,  carved  over  the  doors,  and  like  a  cornice 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        35 

round  tlie  ceiling,  which  was  also  of  carved  oak.  Their  gen- 
eral drift  was,  to  say  that  life  is  short,  and  to  call  for  watch- 
fulness and  prayer.  The  fireplace  of  the  hall  yawned  like  a 
great  cavern,  and  nothing  else,  one  would  think,  than  a  cart 
load  of  western  sycamores  could  have  supplied  an  appropriate 
fire.     A  great  two-handed  sword  of  some  ancestor  hung  over 

the  fireplace.     On   taking  it   down   it   reached   to  C 's 

shoulder,  who,  you  know,  is  six  feet  high. 

We  went  into  a  sort  of  sitting  room,  and  looked  out  through 
a  window,  latticed  with  httle  diamond  panes,  upon  a  garden 
wildly  beautiful.  The  lattice  was  all  wreathed  round  with 
jessamines.  The  furniture  of  this  room  was  modem,  and  it 
seemed  the  more  unique  from  its  contrast  with  the  old  archi- 
tecture. 

We  went  up  stairs  to  see  the  chambers,  and  passed  through 
a  long,  narrow,  black  oak  corridor,  whose  slippery  boards 
had  the  authentic  ghostly  squeak  to  them.  There  was  a 
chamber,  hung  with  old,  faded  tapestry  of  Scripture  subjects. 
In  this  chamber  there  was  behind  the  tapestry  a  door,  which, 
being  opened,  displayed  a  staircase,  that  led  delightfully  off 
to  nobody  knows  where.  The  furniture  was  black  oak,  carved, 
in  the  most  elaborate  manner,  with  cherubs'  heads  and  other 
good  and  solemn  subjects,  calculated  to  produce  a  ghostly 
state  of  mind.  And,  to  crown  all,  we  heard  that  there  was  a 
haunted  chamber,  which  was  not  to  be  opened,  where  a  white 
lady  appeared  and  walked  at  all  approved  hours. 

Now,  only  think  what  a  foundation  for  a  story  is  here.  If 
our  Hawthorne  could  conjure  up  such  a  thing  as  the  Seven 
Gables  in  one  of  our  prosaic  country  towns,  what  would  he 
have  done  if  he  had  Hved  here  ?  Now  he  is  obliged  to  get 
his  ghostly  images  by  looking  through  smoked  glass  at  our 


Ob        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

square,  cold  realities ;  but  one  such  old  place  as  this  is  a 
standing  romance.  Perhaps  it  may  add  to  the  effect  to  say, 
that  the  owner  of  the  liouse  is  a  bachelor,  who  lives  there 
very  retired,  and  employs  himself  much  in  reading. 

The  housekeeper,  who  showed  us  about,  indulged  us  with  a 
view  of  the  kitchen,  whose  snowy,  sanded  floor  and  resplen- 
dent polished  copper  and  tin,  were  sights  for  a  housekeeper 
to  take  away  in  her  heart  of  hearts.  The  good  woman  pro- 
duced her  copy  of  Uncle  Tom,  and  begged  the  favor  of  my 
autograph,  which  I  gave,  thinking  it  quite  a  happy  thing  to 
be  able  to  do  a  favor  at  so  cheap  a  rate. 

Afler  going  over  the  house  we  wandered  through  the 
grounds,  which  are  laid  out  with  the  same  picturesque  mix- 
ture of  the  past  and  present.  There  was  a  fine  grove,  under 
whose  shadows  we  walked,  picking  primroses,  and  otherw^ise 
enacting  the  poetic,  till  it  w^as  time  to  go.  As  we  passed  out, 
we  were  again  saluted  with  a  feu  de  joie  by  the  two  fideli- 
ties at  the  door,  which  we  took  in  very  good  part,  since  it  is 
always  respectable  to  be  thorough  in  whatever  you  are  set 
to  do. 

Coming  home  we  met  with  an  accident  to  the  carriage, 
which  obliged  us  to  get  out  and  walk  some  .distance.  I  was 
glad  enough  of  it,  because  it  gave  me  a  better  opportunity 
for  seeing  the  country.  We  stopped  at  a  cottage  to  get  some 
rope,  and  a  young  woman  came  out  with  that  beautiful,  clear 
complexion  which  I  so  much  admire  here  in  England;  lit- 
erally her  cheeks  were  like  damask  roses. 

I  told  Isa  I  wanted  to  see  as  much  of  the  interior  of  the 
cottages  as  I  could ;  and  so,  as  we  were  walking  onward  to- 
ward home,  we  managed  to  call  once  or  twice,  on  the  excuse 
of  asking  the  way  and  distance.     The  exterior  was  very  neat, 


SUNNY  MEMOKIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        37 

being  built  of  brick  or  stone,  and  eacli  had  attached  to  it  a 
little  flower  garden.  Isa  said  that  the  cottagers  often  offered 
them  a  slice  of  bread  or  tumbler  of  milk. 

They  have  a  way  here  of  building  the  cottages  two  or  three 
in  a  block  together,  which  struck  me  as  different  from  our 
New  England  manner,  where,  in  the  country,  every  house 
stands  detached. 

In  the  evening  I  went  into  Liverpool,  to  attend  a  party  of 
friends  of  the  antislavery  cause.  In  the  course  of  the  even- 
ing, Mr.  Stowe  was  requested  to  make  some  remarks.  Among 
other  things  he  spoke  upon  the  support  the  free  part  of  the 
world  give  to  slavery,  by  the  purchase  of  the  produce  of 
slave  labor ;  and,  in  particular,  on  the  great  quantity  of  slave- 
grown  cotton  purchased  by  England ;  suggesting  it  as  a  sub- 
ject for  inquiry,  whether  this  cannot  be  avoided. 

One  or  two  gentlemen,  who  are  largely  concerned  in  the 
manufacture  and  importation  of  cotton,  spoke  to  him  on  the 
subject  afterwards,  and  said  it  was  a  thing  which  ought  to  be 
very  seriously  considered.  It  is  probable  that  the  cotton  trade 
of  Great  Britain  is  the  great  essential  item  which  supports 
slavery,  and  such  considerations  ought  not,  therefore,  to  be 
without  their  results. 

When  I  was  going  away,  the  lady  of  the  house  said  that 
the  servants  were  anxious  to  see  me ;  so  I  came  into  the 
dressing  room  to  give  them  an  opportunity. 

While  at  Mr.  C.'s,  also,  I  had  once  or  twice  been  called  out 
to  see  servants,  who  had  come  in  to  visit  those  of  the  fiimily. 
All  of  them  had  read  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  and  were  full  of 
sympathy.  Generally  speaking,  the  servants  seem  to  me 
quite  a  superior  class  to  what  are  employed  in  that  capacity 
with  us.  They  look  very  intelligent,  are  dressed  with  great 
VOL.  L  4 


38  SUNNY    3IEM0RIES    OF    FOUEIGX    LANDS. 

neatness,  and  thougli  tlicir  manners  are  very  much  more  def- 
erential than  those  of  servants  in  our  country,  it  appears  to 
be  a  difference  arising  quite  as  much  from  self-respect  and  a 
sense  of  propriety  as  from  servility.  Every  body's  manners 
are  more  deferential  in  England  than  in  America. 

The  next  day  was  appointed  to  leave  Liverpool.  It  had 
been  arranged  that,  before  leaving,  we  should  meet  the  ladies 
of  the  Negroes'  Friend  Society,  an  association  formed  at  tlie 
time  of  the  original  antislavery  agitation  in  England.  We 
went  in  the  carriage  with  our  friends  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  Crop- 
per. On  the  way  they  were  conversing  upon  the  labors  of 
Mrs.  Chisholm,  the  celebrated  female  philanthroi^ist,  whose 
efforts  for  the  benefit  of  emigrants  are  awakening  a  very  gen- 
eral interest  among  all  classes  in  England.  They  said  there 
had  been  hesitation  on  the  part  of  some  good  people,  in  regard 
to  cooperating  with  her,  because  she  is  a  Roman  Catholic. 

It  was  agreed  among  us,  that  the  great  humanities  of  the 
present  day  are  a  proper  ground  on  which  all  sects  can 
unite,  and  that  if  any  feared  the  extension  of  wrong  senti- 
ments, they  had  only  to  supply  emigrant  ships  more  abun- 
dantly with  the  Bible.  Mr.  C.  said  that  this  is  a  movement 
exciting  very  extensive  interest,  and  that  they  hoped  Mrs. 
Chisholm  would  visit  Liverpool  before  long. 

The  meeting  was  a  very  interesting  one.  The  style  of 
feeling  expressed  in  all  the  remarks  was  tempered  by  a  deep 
and  earnest  remembrance  of  the  share  which  England  origi- 
nally had  in  planting  the  evil  of  slavery  in  the  civilized 
world,  and  her  consequent  obligation,  as  a  Christian  nation, 
now  not  to  cease  her  efforts  until  the  evil  is  extirpated,  not 
merely  from  lier  own  soil,  but  from  all  lands. 

The  feeling  towards  America  was  respectful  and  friendly, 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        39 

and  the  utmost  sympathy  was  expressed  with  her  in  the  diffi- 
cuhies  with  which  she  is  environed  by  this  evih  The  tone 
of  the  meeting  was  deeply  earnest  and  religious.  They  pre- 
sented us  with  a  sum  to  be  appropriated  for  the  benefit  of  the 
slave,  in  any  way  we  might  think  proper. 

A  great  number  of  friends  accompanied  us  to  the  cars,  and 
a  beautiful  bouquet  of  flowers  was  sent,  with  a  very  affecting 
message  from  a  sick  gentleman,  who,  from  the  retirement  of 
his  chamber,  felt  a  desire  to  testify  his  sympathy. 

Kow,  if  all  this  enthusiasm  for  freedom  and  humanity,  in 
the  person  of  the  American  slave,  is  to  be  set  down  as  good 
for  nothing  in  England,  because  there  are  evils  there  in  socie- 
ty which  require  redress,  what  then  shall  we  say  of  ourselves  ? 
Have  we  not  been  enthusiastic  for  freedom  in  the  person  of  the 
Greek,  the  Hungarian,  and  the  Pole,  while  protecting  a  much 
worse  despotism  than  any  from  which  they  suffer  ?  Do  we 
not  consider  it  our  duty  to  print  and  distribute  the  Bible  in  all 
foreign  lands,  when  there  are  three  millions  of  people  among 
Avhom  we  dare  not  distribute  it  at  home,  and  whom  it  is  a 
penal  offence  even  to  teach  to  read  it  ?  Do  we  not  send  re- 
monstrances to  Tuscany,  about  the  Madiai,  when  women  are 
imprisoned  in  Virginia  for  teaching  slaves  to  read  ?  Is  all 
this  hypocritical,  insincere,  and  impertinent  in  us  ?  Are  we 
never  to  send  another  missionary,  or  make  another  appeal  for 
foreign  lands,  till  we  have  abolished  slavery  at  home  ?  For 
my  part,  I  think  that  imperfect  and  inconsistent  outbursts  of 
generosity  and  feeling  are  a  great  deal  better  than  none.  No 
nation,  no  individual  is  wholly  consistent  and  Christian ;  but 
let  us  not  in  ourselves  or  in  other  nations  repudiate  the  truest 
and  most  beautiful  developments  of  humanity,  because  we 
have  not  yet  attained  perfection. 


40        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

All  experience  has  proved  that  the  sublime  spirit  of  foreign 
missions  always  is  suggestive  of  home  philantliropies,  and 
tliat  those  whose  heart  has  been  enlarged  by  the  love  of  all 
mankind  are  always  those  who  are  most  efficient  in  tlieir  own 
particular  sphere. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        41 


LETTER   III. 

Glasgow,  April  16,  1853. 
Dear  Aunt  E.  :  — 

You  shall  have  my  earliest  Scotch  letter ;  for  I  am  sure 
nobody  can  sympathize  in  the  emotions  of  the  first  approach 
to  Scotland  as  you  can.  A  country  dear  to  us  by  the  memory 
of  the  dead  and  of  the  living;  a  countrywhose  history  and 
Uterature,  interesting  enough  of  itself,  has  become  to  us  stiU 
more  so,  because  the  reading  and  learning  of  it  formed  part 
of  our  communion  for  many  a  social  hour,  with  friends  long 
parted  from  earth. 

The  views  of  Scotland,  which  lay  on  my  mother's  table, 
even  while  I  was  a  little  child,  and  in  poring  over  which  I 
spent  so  many  happy,  dreamy  hours,  —  the  Scotch  ballads, 
which  were  the  delight  of  our  evening  fireside,  and  which 
seemed  almost  to  melt  the  soul  out  of  me,  before  I  was  old 
enough  to  understand  their  words,  —  the  songs  of  Burns, 
which  had  been  a  household  treasure  among  us,  —  the  en- 
chantments of  Scott,  —  all  these  dimly  returned  upon  me.  It 
was  the  result  of  them  all  which  I  felt  in  nerve  and  brain. 

And,  by  the  by,  that  puts  me  in  mind  of  one  thing ;  and 
that  is,  how  much  of  our  pleasure  in  literature  results  from 
its  reflection  on  us  from  other  minds.  As  we  advance  in  life, 
the  literature  which  has  charmed  us  in  the  circle  of  our  friends 
becomes  endeared  to  us  from  the  reflected  remembrance  of 
them,  of  their  individualities,  their  opinions,  and  their  sympa- 
4* 


42        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

thies,  so  that  our  memory  of  it  is  a  many-colored  cord,  drawTi 
from  many  minds. 

So  in  coming  near  to  Scotland,  I  seemed  to  feel  not  only 
my  own  individuality,  but  all  that  my  friends  would  have  felt, 
had  they  been  with  me.  For  sometimes  we  seem  to  be  en- 
compassed, as  by  a  cloud,  with  a  sense  of  the  sympathy  of  the 
absent  and  the  dead. 

We  left  Liverpool  with  hearts  a  little  tremulous  and  ex- 
cited by  the  vibration  of  an  atmosphere  of  universal  sympa- 
thy and  kindness.  We  found  ourselves,  at  length,  shut  from 
the  Avarm  adieus  of  our  friends,  in  a  snug  compartment  of  the 
railroad  car.  The  English  cars  are  models  of  comfort  and 
good  keeping.  There  are  six  seats  in  a  compartment,  luxu- 
riously cushioned  and  nicely  carpeted,  and  six  was  exactly 
the  number  of  our  party.  Nevertheless,  so  obstinate  is  cus- 
tom that  we  averred  at  first  that  we  preferred  our  American 
cars,  deficient  as  they  are  in  many  points  of  neatness  and 
luxury,  because  they  are  so  much  more  social. 

"  Dear  me,"  said  Mr.  S.,  "  six  Yankees  shut  up  in  a  car 
together !  Not  one  Englishman  to  tell  us  any  thing  about 
the  country !  Just  like  the  six  old  ladies  that  made  their 
living  by  taking  tea  at  each  other's  houses." 

But  that  is  the  way  here  in  England :  every  arrangement 
in  travelling  is  designed  to  maintain  that  privacy  and  reserve 
which  is  the  dearest  and  most  sacred  part  of  an  Englishman's 
nature.  Things  are  so  arranged  here  that,  if  a  man  pleases, 
he  can  travel  all  through  England  with  his  family,  and  keep 
the  circle  an  unbroken  unit,  having  just  as  little  communica- 
tion with  any  thing  outside  of  it  as  in  his  own  house. 

From  one  of  these  sheltered  apartments  in  a  railroad  car, 
he  can  pass  to  preengaged  parlors  and  chambers  in  the  hotel, 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.        43 

with  his  own  separate  table,  and  all  his  domestic  manners  and 
peculiarities  unbroken.  In  fact,  it  is  a  little  compact  home 
travelling  about. 

Now,  all  this  is  very  charming  to  people  who  know  already 
as  much  about  a  country  as  they  want  to  know ;  but  it  follows 
from  it  that  a  stranger  might  travel  all  through  England,  from 
one  end  to  the  other  and  not  be  on  conversing  terms  with  a 
person  in  it.  He  may  be  at  the  same  hotel,  in  the  same  train 
with  people  able  to  give  him  all  imaginable  information,  yet 
never  touch  them  at  any  practicable  point  of  communion. 
This  is  more  especially  the  case  if  his  party,  as  ours  was,  is 
just  large  enough  to  fill  the  whole  apartment. 

As  to  the  comforts  of  the  cars,  it  is  to  be  said,  that  for  the 
same  price  you  can  get  far  more  comfortable  riding  in  Ameri- 
ca. Their  first  class  cars  are  beyond  all  praise,  but  also  be- 
yond all  price ;  their  second  class  are  comfortless,  cushionless, 
and  uninviting.  Agreeably  with  our  theory  of  democratic 
equality,  we  have  a  general  car,  not  so  complete  as  the  one, 
nor  so  bare  as  the  other,  where  all  ride  together ;  and  if  the 
traveller  in  thus  riding  sees  things  that  occasionally  annoy 
him,  when  he  remembers  that  the  whole  population,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  are  accommodated  here  together,  he  will 
certainly  see  hopeful  indications  in  the  general  comfort,  order, 
and  respectability  which  prevail ;  all  which  we  talked  over 
most  patriotically  together,  while  we  were  lamenting  that 
there  was  not  a  seventh  to  our  party,  to  instruct  us  in  the 
localities. 

Every  thing  upon  the  railroad  proceeds  with  systematic 
accuracy.  There  is  no  chance  for  the  most  careless  person 
to  commit  a  blunder,  or  make  a  mistake.  At  the  proper  time 
the  conductor  marches  every  body  into  their  places  and  locks 


44        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

them  in,  gives  the  word,  "  All  right,"  and  away  we  go.  Some- 
body lias  remarked,  very  cliaractcristically,  that  the  starting 
word  of  the  EogHsh  is  "  all  right,"  and  that  of  the  Americans 
"  go  ahead." 

Away  we  go  through  Lancashire,  wide  awake,  looking  out 
on  all  sides  for  any  signs  of  antiquity.  In  being  thus  whirled 
through  English  scenery,  I  became  conscious  of  a  new  under- 
standing of  the  spirit  and  phraseology  of  English  poetry. 
There  are  many  phrases  and  expressions  with  which  we  have 
been  familiar  from  childhood,  and  which,  we  suppose,  in  a  kind 
of  indefinite  way,  we  understand,  which,  after  all,  when  we 
come  on  English  ground,  start  into  a  new  significance  :  take, 
for  instance,  these  lines  from  L' Allegro  :  — 

"  Sometimes  walking,  not  unseen. 
By  hedge-row  elms  on  hillocks  green. 

«  «  «  « 

Straight  mine  eye  hath  caught  new  pleasures, 
While  the  landscape  round  it  measures  ; 
Russet  lawns  and  fallows  gray, 
Where  the  nibbling  flocks  do  stray  ; 
Mountains,  on  whose  barren  breast 
The  laboring  clouds  do  often  rest ; 
Meadows  trim  with  daisies  pied, 
Shallow  brooks  and  rivers  wide  : 
Towers  and  battlements  it  sees 
Bosom'd  high  in  tufted  trees." 

Now,  these  hedge-row  elms.  I  had  never  even  asked  myself 
what  they  were  till  I  saw  them ;  but  you  know,  as  I  said  in  a 
former  letter,  the  hedges  are  not  all  of  them  carefully  cut ;  in 
fact  many  of  them  are  only  irregular  rows  of  bushes,  where, 
although  the  hawthorn  is  the  staple  element,  yet  firs,  and 
brara1)les,  and  many  other  interlopers  put  in  their  claim,  and 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.        45 

tliey  all  grow  up  together  in  a  kind  of  straggling  unity ;  and 
in  tlie  hedges  trees  are  often  set  out,  particularly  elms,  and 
have  a  very  pleasing  effect. 

Then,  too,  the  trees  have  more  of  that  rounding  outline 
which  is  expressed  by  the  word  "  bosomed."  But  here  we 
are,  right  under  the  walls  of  Lancaster,  and  Mr.  S.  wakes  me 
up  by  quoting,  "  Old  John  o'  Gaunt,  time-honored  Lancaster." 

"  Time-honored,"  said  I ;  "it  looks  as  fresh  as  if  it  had  been 
built  yesterday :  you  do  not  mean  to  say  that  is  the  real  old 
castle  ?  " 

"  To  be  sure,  it  is  the  very  old  cjistle^  built  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  III.,  by  John  of  Gaunt." 

It  stands  on  the  summit  of  a  hill,  seated  regally  Hke  a  queen 
upon  a  throne,  and  every  part  of  it  looks  as  fresh,  and  sharp, 
and  clear,  as  if  it  were  the  work  of  modern  times.  It  is  used 
now  for  a  county  jail.  "We  have  but  a  moment  to  stop  or 
admire  —  the  merciless  steam  car  drives  on.  We  have  a  little 
talk  about  the  feudal  times,  and  the  old  past  days;  when 
again  the  cry  goes  up,  — 

"  0,  there's  something  !     What's  that  ?  '* 

"  O,  that  is  Carlisle." 

"  Carlisle  !  "  said  I ;  "  what,  the  Carlisle  of  Scott's  baUad  ?  " 

"WhatbaUad?" 

"  Why,  don't  you  remember,  in  the  Lay  of  the  Last  Min- 
strel, the  song  of  Albert  Graeme,  which  has  something  about 
Carlisle's  wall  in  every  verse  ? 

*  It  was  an  English  laydie  bright 
"When  sun  shines  fair  on  Carlisle  ■wall, 
And  she  would  marry  a  Scottish  knight, 
For  love  will  still  be  lord  of  all.' 

I  used  to  read  this  when  I  was  a  child,  and  wonder  what 
'  Carlisle  waU '  was." 


46 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 


Carlisle  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  in  England,  dating 
quite  back  to  the  time  of  the  Romans.  Wonderful !  How 
these  Romans  left  tlieir  mark  every  wliere  ! 

Carlisle  has  also  its  ancient  castle,  the  lofty,  massive  tower 
of  which  forms  a  striking  feature  of  the  town. 


This  castle  was  built  by  William  Rufus.  David,  King  of 
Scots,  and  Robert  Bruce  both  tried  their  hands  upon  it,  in 
the  good  old  times,  when  England  and  Scotland  were  a  mu- 
tual robbery  association.  Then  the  castle  of  the  town  was 
its  great  feature ;  castles  were  every  thing  in  those  days. 
Now  the  castle  has  gone  to  decay,  and  stands  only  for  a  curi- 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        47 

osity,  and  the  cotton  factory  has  come  up  in  its  place.  This 
place  is  famous  for  cottons  and  ginghams,'  and  moreover  for  a 
celebrated  biscuit  bakery.  So  goes  the  world,  —  the  lively, 
vigorous  shoots  of  the  present  springing  out  of  the  old,  moul- 
dering trunk  of  the  past. 

Mr.  S.  was  in  an  ecstasy  about  an  old  church,  a  splendid 
Gothic,  in  which  Paley  preached.  He  wns  archdeacon  of  Car- 
lisle. We  stopped  here  for  a  little  while  to  take  dinner.  In 
a  large,  handsome  room  tables  were  set  out,  and  we  sat  down 
to  a  regular  meal. 

One  sees  nothing  of  a  town  from  a  railroad  station,  since 
it  seems  to  be  an  invariable  rule,  not  only  here,  but  all  over 
Europe,  to  locate  them  so  that  you  can  see  nothing  from  them. 
By  the  by,  I  forgot  to  say,  among  the  historical  recollections 
of  this  place,  that  it  was  the  first  stopping-place  of  Queen 
Mary,  after  her  fatal  flight  into  England.     The  rooms  which 
she  occupied  are  still  shown  in  the  castle,  and  there  are  inter- 
esting letters  and  documents  extant  from  lords  whom  EUza- 
beth  sent  here  to  visit  her,  in  which  they  record  her  beauty, 
her  heroic  sentiments,  and  even  her  dress  ;  so  strong  was  thj 
fascination  in  which  she  held  aU  who  approached  her.     Car- 
lisle is  the  scene  of  the  denouement  of  Guy  Mannering,  and 
It  IS  from  this  town  that  Lord  Carlisle  gets  his  title. 

And  now  keep  up  a  bright  lookout  for  ruins  and  old  houses. 
]Mr.  8.,  whose  eyes  are  always  in  every  place,  aUowed  none 
of  us  to  slumber,  but  looking  out,  first  on  his  own  side  and 
then  on  ours,  called  our  attention  to  every  visible  thing.  If 
he  had  been  appointed  on  a  mission  of  inquiry  he  could  not 
have  been  more  zealous  and  faithful,  and  I  began  to  think  that 
our  desire  for  an  English  cicerone  was  quite  superfluous. 
And  now  we  pass  Gretna  Green,  famous  in  story  — that 


48        8UNNT  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

momentous  place  which  marks  the  commencement  of  Scot- 
land. It  is  a  little  straggling  village,  and  there  is  a  road- 
side inn,  which  has  been  the  scene  of  innumerable  Gretna 
Green  marriages. 

Owing  to  the  fi\ct  that  the  Scottish  law  of  marriage  is  far 
more  liberal  in  its  construction  than  the  English,  this  place 
has  been  the  refucre  of  distressed  lovers  from  time  immemo- 

o 

rial ;  and  although  the  practice  of  escaping  here  is  universally 
condemned  as  very  naughty  and  improper,  yet,  like  every 
other  impropriety,  it  is  kept  in  countenance  by  very  respecta- 
ble people.  Two  lord  chancellors  have  had  the  amiable  weak- 
ness to  fall  into  this  snare,  and  one  lord  chancellor's  son ;  so 
says  the  guide  book,  which  is  our  Koran  for  the  time  being. 
It  says,  moreover,  that  it  would  be  easy  to  add  a  lengthened 
list  of  distingues  married  at  Gretna  Green ;  but  these  lord 
chancellors  (Erskine  and  Eldon)  are  quoted  as  being  the 
most  melancholy  monuments.  What  shall  meaner  mortals 
do,  when  law  itself,  in  all  her  majesty,  wig,  gown,  and  all, 
goes  by  the  board? 

Well,  we  are  in  Scotland  at  last,  and  now  our  pulse  rises 
as  the  sun  declines  in  the  west.  We  catch  glimpses  of  the 
Solway  Frith,  and  talk  about  Redgauntlet. 

One  says,  "  Do  you  remember  the  scene  on  the  sea  shore, 
with  which  it  opens,  describing  the  rising  of  the  tide  ?  " 

And  says  another,  "  Don't  you  remember  those  lines  in  the 
Young  Lochinvar  song  ?  — 

'  Love  swells  like  the  Solway,  but  ebbs  like  its  tide.'  " 

I  wonder  how  many  authors  it  will  take  to  enchant  our 
country  from  Maine  to  New  Orleans,  as  every  foot  of  ground 
is  enchanted  here  in  Scotland. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.        49 

The  sun  went  down,  and  night  drew  on ;  still  we  were  in 
Scotland.  Scotch  ballads,  Scotch  tunes,  and  Scotch  literature 
were  in  the  ascendant.  We  sang  "  Auld  Lang  Syne,"  "  Scots 
wha  ha',"  and  "  Bonnie  Doon,"  and  then,  changing  the  key, 
sang  Dundee,  Elgin,  and  Martyrs. 

"  Take  care,"  said  'Mr.  S. ;  "  don't  get  too  much  excited." 

"  Ah,"  said  I,  "  this  is  a  thing  that  comes  only  once  in  a 
lifetime ;  do  let  us  have  the  comfort  of  it.  We  shall  never 
come  into  Scotland  for  the  first  time  again.'* 

"  Ah,"  said  another,  "  how  1  wish  Walter  Scott  was  alive ! " 

While  we  were  thus  at  the  fusion  point  of  enthusiasm,  the 
cars  stopped  at  Lockerby,  where  the  real  Old  Mortality  is 
buried.  All  was  dim  and  dark  outside,  but  we  soon  became 
conscious  that  there  was  quite  a  number  collected,  peering 
into  the  window,  and,  with  a  strange  kind  of  thrill,  I  heard 
my  name  inquired  for  in  the  Scottish  accent.  I  went  to  the 
window;  there  were  men,  women,  and  children  there,  and 
hand  after  hand  was  presented,  with  the  words,  "  Ye're  wel- 
come to  Scotland ! " 

Then  they  inquired  for,  and  shook  hands  with,  all  the  party, 
having  in  some  mysterious  manner  got  the  knowledge  of  who 

they  were,  even  down  to  little  G ,  whom  they  took  to  be 

my  son.  Was  it  not  pleasant,  when  I  had  a  heart  so  warm 
for  this  old  country  ?  I  shall  never  forget  the  thrill  of  those 
words,  "  Ye're  welcome  to  Scotland,"  nor  the  "  Gude  night." 

After  that  we  found  similar  welcomes  in  many  succeeding 
stopping-places ;  and  though  I  did  wave  a  towel  out  of  the 
window,  instead  of  a  pocket  handkerchief,  and  commit  other 
awkwardnesses,  from  not  knowing  how  to  play  my  part,  yet  I 
fancied,  after  all,  that  Scotland  and  we  were  coming  on  well 
together.     Wlio  the  good  souls  were  that  were  thus  watching 

VOL.  I.  5 


50        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS, 

for  us  through  the  night,  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know ;  but 
that  they  were  of  the  "  one  blood,"  wliich  unites  all  the  fam- 
ilies of  the  earth,  I  felt. 

As  we  came  towards  Glasgow,  we  saw,  upon  a  high  hill, 
what  we  supposed  to  be  a  castle  on  fire  —  great  volumes  of 
smoke  rolhng  up,  and  lire  looking  out  of  arched  windows. 

"  Dear  me,  what  a  conflagration ! "  we  all  exclaimed.  We 
had  not  gone  very  far  before  we  saw  another,  and  then,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  car,  another  still. 

"  Why,  it  seems  to  me  the  country  is  all  on  fire." 

"  I  should  think,"  said  Mr.  S.,  "  if  it  was  in  old  times,  that 
there  had  been  a  raid  from  the  Highlands,  and  set  all  the 
houses  on  fire." 

"  Or  they  might  be  beacons,"  suggested  C. 

To  this  some  one  answered  out  of  the  Lay  of  the  Last 
Minstrel,  — 

"  Sweet  Teviot,  by  thy  silver  tide 
The  glaring  bale-fires  blaze  no  more." 

As  we  drew  near  to  Glasf]jow  these  illuminations  increased, 
till  the  whole  air  was  red  with  the  glare  of  them. 

"  What  can  they  be  ?  " 

"  Dear  me,"  said  ISL*.  S.,  in  a  tone  of  sudden  recollection, 
"  it's  the  iron  works  !  Don't  you  know  Glasgow  is  celebrated 
for  its  iron  works  ?  " 

So,  after  all,  in  these  peaceful  fires  of  the  iron  works,  we 
got  an  idea  how  the  country  might  have  looked  in  the  old 
picturesque  times,  when  the  Highlanders  came  down  and  set 
the  Lowlands  on  fire ;  such  scenes  as  are  commemorated  in 
the  words  of  Roderick  Dhu's  song :  — 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        51 

"  Proudly  our  pibroch  has  thrilled  in  Glen  Fruin, 
And  Banmachar's  groans  to  our  slogan  replied ; 
Glen  Luss  and  Ross  Dhu,  tliey  are  smoking  in  ruins, 
And  the  best  of  Loch  Lomond  lies  dead  on  her  side." 

To  be  sure  the  fires  of  iron  founderies  are  mucli  less  pic- 
turesque than  the  old  beacons,  and  the  clink  of  hammers  than 
the  clash  of  clajonores ;  but  the  most  devout  worshipper  of 
the  middle  ages  would  hardly  wish  to  change  them. 

Dimly,  by  the  flickering  light  of  these  furnaces,  we  see  the 
approach  to  the  old  city  of  Glasgow.  There,  we  are  arrived ! 
Friends  are  waiting  in  the  station  house.  Earnest,  eager, 
friendly  faces,  ever  so  many.  "Warm  greetings,  kindly  words. 
A  crowd  parting  in  the  middle,  through  which  we  were  con- 
ducted into  a  carriage,  and  loud  cheers  of  welcome,  sent  a 
tlirob,  as  the  voice  of  living  Scotland. 

I  looked  out  of  the  carriage,  as  we  drove  on,  and  saw,  by 
the  light  of  a  lantern,  Argyle  Street.  It  was  past  twelve 
o'clock  when  I  found  myself  in  a  warm,  cozy  parlor,  with 
friends,  whom  I  have  ever  since  been  glad  to  remember.  In 
a  little  time  we  were  all  safely  housed  in  our  hospitable  apart- 
ments, and  sleep  fell  on  me  for  the  first  time  in  Scotland. 


52        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  L.\:ND3. 


LETTER    IV. 

Dear  Aunt  E.  :  — 

The  next  morning  I  awoke  worn  and  weary,  and  scarce 
could  tlie  charms  of  the  social  Scotch  breakfast  restore  me. 
I  say  Scotch,  for  we  had  many  viands  peculiarly  national. 
The  smoking  porridge,  or  parritch,  of  oatmeal,  which  is  the 
great  staple  dish  throughout  Scotland.  Then  there  was  the 
bannock,  a  thin,  wafer-like  cake  of  the  same  material.  My 
friend  laugliingly  said  when  he  passed  it,  "  You  are  in  the 
*  land  o'  cakes,'  remember."  There  was  also  some  herring, 
as  nice  a  Scottish  fish  as  ever  wore  scales,  besides  dainties 
innumerable  which  were  not  national. 

Our  friend  and  host  was  Mr.  Baillie  Paton.  I  believe 
tliat  it  is  to  his  suggestion  in  a  public  meeting,  that  we  owe 
the  invitation  which  brought  us  to  Scotland. 

By  the  by,  I  should  say  that  "  baillie  "  seems  to  correspond 
to  what  we  call  a  member  of  the  city  council.  !Mr.  Paton  told 
us,  that  they  had  expected  us  earlier,  and  that  the  day  before 
quite  a  party  of  friends  met  at  his  house  to  see  us,  among 
whom  was  good  old  Dr.  Wardlaw. 

After  breakfast  the  calling  began.  First,  a  friend  of  the 
family,  with  three  beautiful  children,  the  youngest  of  whom 
was  the  bearer  of  a  handsomely  bound  album,  containing  a 
pressed  collection  of  the  sea  mosses  of  the  Scottish  coast, 
very  vivid  and  beautiful.  • 

If  the  bloom  of  English  children  appeared  to  me  wonderful, 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        53 

I  seemed  to  find  the  same  thing  intensified,  if  possible,  in 
Scotland.  The  children  are  brilliant  as  pomegranate  blos- 
soms, and  their  vivid  beauty  called  forth  unceasing  admiration. 
Nor  is  it  merely  the  children  of  the  rich,  or  of  the  higher 
classes,  that  are  thus  gifted.  I  have  seen  many  a  group  of 
ragged  urcliins  in  the  streets  and  closes  with  all  the  high 
coloring  of  Rubens,  and  all  his  fulness  of  outHne.  Why  is  it 
that  we  admire  ragged  children  on  canvas  so  much  more 
than  the  same  in  nature  ? 

All  this  day  is  a  confused  dream  to  me  of  a  dizzy  and  over- 
whelming kind.     So  many  letters  that  it  took  C from 

nine  in  the  morning  till  two  in  the  afternoon  to  read  and  an- 
swer them  in  the  shortest  manner ;  letters  from  all  classes  of 
people,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  in  all  shades  and  styles 
of  composition,  poetry  and  prose;  some  mere  outbursts  of 
feeling ;  some  invitations  ;  some  advice  and  suggestions  ;  some 
requests  and  inquiries ;  some  presenting  books,  or  flowers,  or 
fruit. 

Then  came,  in  theu'  turn,  deputations  from  Paisley,  Green- 
ock, Dundee,  Aberdeen,  Edinburgh,  and  Belfast  in  Ireland ; 
calls  of  friendship,  invitations  of  all  descriptions  to  go  every 
where,  and  to  see  every  thing,  and  to  stay  in  so  many  places. 
One  kind,  venerable  minister,  with  his  lovely  daughter,  offered 
me  a  retreat  in  his  quiet  manse  on  the  beautiful  shores  of  the 
Clyde. 

For  all  these  kindnesses,  what  could  I  give  in  return? 
There  was  scarce  time  for  even  a  grateful  thought  on  each. 
People  have  often  said  to  me  that  it  must  have  been  an  ex- 
ceeding bore.  For  my  part,  I  could  not  think  of  regarding 
it  so.     It  only  oppressed  me  with  an  unutterable  sadness. 

To  me  there  is  always  something  interesting  and  beautiful 
5* 


54        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

about  a  universal  popular  excitement  of  a  generous  charac- 
ter, let  the  object  of  it  be  what  it  may.  The  great  desiring 
heart  of  man,  surging  with  one  strong,  sympathetic  swell,  even 
though  it  be  to  break  on  the  beach  of  life  and  fall  backwards, 
leaving  the  sands  as  barren  as  before,  has  yet  a  meaning  and 
a  power  in  its  restlessness,  with  which  I  must  deeply  sympa- 
thize. Nor  do  I  sympathize  any  the  less,  when  the  indi- 
vidual, who  calls  forth  such  an  outburst,  can  be  seen  by  the 
eye  of  sober  sense  to  be  altogether  inadequate  and  dispro- 
portioned  to  it. 

I  do  not  regard  it  as  any  thing  against  our  American  nation, 
that  we  are  capable,  to  a  very  great  extent,  of  these  sudden 
personal  enthusiasms,  because  I  think  that,  with  an  individual 
or  a  community,  the  capability  of  being  exalted  into  a  tempo- 
rary enthusiasm  of  self-forgetfulness,  so  far  from  being  a  fault, 
has  in  it  a  quality  of  something  divine. 

Of  course,  about  all  such  things  there  is  a  great  deal  which 
a  cool  critic  could  make  ridiculous,  but  I  hold  to  my  opinion 
of  them  nevertheless. 

In  the  afternoon  I  rode  out  with  the  lord  provost  to  see  the 
cathedi'al.  The  lord  provost  answers  to  the  lord  mayor  in 
England.  His  title  and  office  in  both  countries  continue  only 
a  year,  except  in  cases  of  reelection. 

As  I  saw  the  way  to  the  cathedral  blocked  up  by  a  throng 
of  people,  who  had  come  out  to  see  me,  I  could  not  help  say- 
ing, "  What  went  ye  out  for  to  see  ?  a  reed  shaken  with  the 
wind  ?  "  In  fact,  I  was  so  worn  out,  that  I  could  hardly  walk 
through  the  building. 

It  is  in  this  cathedral  that  part  of  the  scene  of  Rob  Roy  is 
laid.  This  was  my  first  experience  in  cathedrals.  It  was  a 
new  thing  to  me  altogether,  and  as  I  walked  along  under  the 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        55 

old  buttresses  and  battlements  without,  and  looked  into  the 
bewildering  labyrinths  of  architecture  within,  I  saw  that,  with 
silence  and  solitude  to  help  the  impression,  the  old  building 
might  become  a  strong  part  of  one's  inner  life.     A  grave  yard 


crowded  with  flat  stones  lies  all  around  it.  A  deep  ravine 
separates  it  from  another  cemetery  on  an  opposite  eminence, 
rustling  with  dark  pines.  A  little  brook  murmurs  with  its 
slender  voice  between. 

On  this  opposite  eminence  the  statue  of  John  Knox,  grim 
and  strong,  stands  with  its  arm  uplifted,  as  if  shaking  his  fist 
at  the  old  cathedral  which  in  life  he  vainly  endeavored  to 
battle  down. 


56  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOllEIGN    LANDS. 

Knox  was  very  different  from  Luther,  in  that  he  had  no 
conservative  element  in  him,  but  warred  equally  against  ac- 
cessories and  essentials. 

At  the  time  when  the  churches  of  Scotland  were  being 
pulled  down  in  a  general  iconoclastic  crusade,  the  tradesmen 
of  Glasgow  stood  for  the  defence  of  their  cathedral,  and  forced 
the  reformers  to  content  themselves  with  having  the  idolatrous 
images  of  saints  pulled  down  from  their  niches  and  thrown 
into  the  brook,  while,  as  Andrew  Fairservice  hath  it,  "  The 
auld  kirk  stood  as  crouse  as  a  cat  when  the  fleas  are  caimed 
aff  her,  and  a'  body  was  alike  pleased." 

"We  went  all  through  the  cathedral,  which  is  fitted  up  as  a 
Protestant  place  of  worship,  and  has  a  simple  and  massive 
grandeur  about  it.  In  fact,  to  quote  again  from  our  friend 
Andrew,  we  could  truly  say,  "  All,  it's  a  brave  kirk,  nane  o' 
yere  whig-maleeries,  and  curliewurlies,  and  opensteek  hems 
about  it  —  a'  solid,  weel-jointed  mason  wark,  that  will  stand 
as  lang  as  the  warld,  keep  hands  and  gun-powther  afF  it." 

I  was  disapppointed  in  one  thing :  the  i^ainted  glass,  if 
there  has  ever  been  any,  is  almost  all  gone,  and  the  glare  of 
light  through  the  immense  windows  is  altogether  too  great, 
revealing  many  defects  and  rudenesses  in  the  architecture, 
which  would  have  quite  another  appearance  in  the  colored 
rays  through  painted  windows  —  an  emblem,  perhaps,  of  the 
cold,  definite,  intellectual  rationalism,  which  has  taken  the 
place  of  the  many-colored,  gorgeous  mysticism  of  former  times. 

After  having  been  over  the  church,  we  requested,  out 
of  respect  to  Baillie  Nicol  Jarvie's  memory,  to  be  driven 
through  the  Saut  Market.  I,  however,  was  so  thoroughly 
tired  that  I  cannot  remember  any  thing  about  it. 

I  will  say,  by  the  way,  that  I  have  found  out  since,  that 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        57 

nothing  is  so  utterly  hazardous  to  a  person's  strength  as  look- 
ing at  cathedrals.  The  strain  upon  the  head  and  eyes  in 
looking  up  through  these  immense  arches,  and  then  the  sepul- 
chral chill  which  abides  from  generation  to  generation  in 
them,  their  great  extent,  and  the  vai'iety  which  tempts  you  to 
fatigue  which  you  are  not  at  all  aware  of,  have  overcome,  as 
I  was  told,  many  before  me. 

3VIr.  S.  and  C ,  however,  made  amends,  by  their  great 

activity  and  zeal,  for  all  that  I  could  not  do,  and  I  was  pleased 
to  understand  from  them,  that  part  of  the  old  Tolbooth,  where 
Rob  Roy  and  the  baiUie  had  their  rencontre,  was  standing  safe 
and  sound,  with  stuff  enough  in  it  for  half  a  dozen  more  sto- 
ries, if  any  body  could  be  found  to  write  them.  And  Mr.  S. 
insisted  upon  it,  that  I  should  not  omit  to  notify  you  of  this 
circumstance. 

"Well,  in  consequence  of  all  this,  the  next  morning  I  was  so 
ill  as  to  need  a  physician,  unable  to  see  any  one  that  called, 
or  to  hear  any  of  the  letters.  I  passed  most  of  the  day  in 
bed,  but  in  the  evening  I  had  to  get  up,  as  I  had  engaged  to 
drink  tea  with  two  thousand  people.  Our  kind  friends  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Wardlaw  came  after  us,  and  ]Mr.  S.  and  I  went  in 
the  carriage  with  them. 

Dr.  TVardlaw  is  a  venerable-looking  old  man;  we  both 
thought  we  saw  a  strikino;  resemblance  in  him  to  our  friend 
Dr.  Woods,  of  Andover.  He  is  stiU  quite  active  in  body  and 
mind,  and  officiates  to  his  congregation  with  great  acceptance. 
I  fear,  however,  that  he  is  in  ill  health,  for  I  noticed,  as  we 
were  passing  along  to  church,  that  he  frequently  laid  his  hand 
upon  his  heart,  and  seemed  in  pain.  He  said  he  hoped  he 
should  be  able  to  get  through  the  evening,  but  that  when  he 
was  not  well,  excitement  was  apt  to  bring  on  a  spasm  about 


68  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

the  heart ;  but  with  it  all  he  seemed  so  cheerful,  lively,  and 
benignant,  tliat  I  could  not  but  feel  my  affections  drawn  towards 
him.  Mrs.  Wardlaw  is  a  gentle,  motlierly  woman,  and  it  was 
a  great  comfort  to  have  her  with  me  on  such  an  occasion. 

Our  carriage  stopj^ed  at  last  at  the  place.  I  have  a  dim 
remembrance  of  a  way  being  made  for  us  through  a  great 
crowd  all  round  the  house,  and  of  going  with  Mrs.  Wardlaw 
up  into  a  dressing  room,  where  I  met  and  shook  hands  with 
many  friendly  people.  Then  we  passed  into  a  gallery,  where 
a  seat  was  reserved  for  our  party,  directly  in  front  of  the  au- 
dience. Our  friend  Baillie  Paton  presided.  Mrs.  Wardlaw 
and  I  sat  together,  and  around  us  many  friends,  chiefly  minis- 
ters of  the  different  churches,  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the 
Glasgow  Antislavery  Society,  and  others. 

I  told  you  it  was  a  tea  party ;  but  the  arrangements  were 
altogether  different  from  any  I  had  ever  seen.  There  were 
narrow  tables  stretched  up  and  down  the  whole  extent  of  the 
great  hall,  and  every  person  had  an  ajipointed  seat.  These 
tables  were  set  out  with  cups  and  saucers,  cakes,  biscuit,  &:c., 
and  when  the  proper  time  came,  attendants  passed  along  serv- 
ing tea.  The  arrangements  were  so  accurate  and  methodical 
that  the  whole  multitude  actually  took  tea  together,  without 
the  least  apparent  inconvenience  or  disturbance. 

There  was  a  gentle,  subdued  murmur  of  conversation  all 
over  the  house,  the  sociable  clinking  of  teacups  and  teaspoons, 
while  the  entertainment  was  going  on.  It  seemed  to  me  such 
an  odd  idea,  I  could  not  help  wondering  what  sort  of  a  teapot 
that  must  be,  in  which  all  this  tea  for  two  thousand  people 
was  made.  Truly,  as  Hadji  Baba  says,  I  think  they  must  have 
had  the  "  father  of  all  teakettles  "  to  boil  it  in.  I  could  not 
help  wondering  if  old  mother  Scotland  had  put  two  thousand 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        59 

teaspoonfuls  of  tea  for  the  company,  and  one  for  the  teapot, 
as  is  our  good  Yankee  custom. 

We  had  quite  a  sociable  time  up  in  our  gallery.  Our  tea 
table  stretched  quite  across  the  gallery,  and  we  drank  tea  "  in 
sight  of  all  the  people."  By  we,  I  mean  a  great  number  of 
ministers  and  their  wives,  and  ladies  of  the  Antislavery  Soci- 
ety, besides  our  party,  and  the  friends  whom  I  have  men- 
tioned before.     All  seemed  to  be  enjoying  themselves. 

After  tea  they  sang  a  few  verses  of  the  seventy-second 
psalm  in  the  old  Scotch  version. 

**  The  people's  poor  ones  he  shall  judge, 
The  needy's  children  save  ; 
And  those  shall  he  in  pieces  break, 
Who  them  oppressed  have. 

For  he  the  needy  shall  preserve, 

"When  he  to  him  doth  call ; 
The  poor,  also,  ^nd  him  that  hath 

No  help  of  man  at  all. 

Both  from  deceit  and  violence 

Their  soul  he  shall  set  free  ; 
And  in  his  sight  right  precious 

And  dear  their  blood  shall  be. 

Now  blessed  be  the  Lord,  our  God, 

The  God  of  Israel, 
For  he  alone  doth  wondrous  works, 

In  glory  that  excel. 

And  blessed  be  his  glorious  name 

To  all  eternity ; 
The  whole  earth  let  his  glory  fill : 

Amen ;  so  let  it  be." 

When  I  heard  the  united  sound  of  all  the  voices,  giving 


60  SUNNY   MEMOlilES    UF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

force  to  these  sim])le  and  pathetic  words,  I  thought  I  could 
see  something  of  the  reason  why  that  rude  old  translation 
still  holds  its  place  in  Scotland. 

•  The  addresses  were,  many  of  them,  very  beautiful ;  the  more 
so  for  the  earnest  and  religious  feeling  which  they  manifested. 
That  of  Dr.  Wardlaw,  in  particular,  was  full  of  comfort  and 
encouragement,  and  breathed  a  most  candid  and  catholic  spirit. 
Could  our  friends  in  America  see  with  what  earnest  warmth 
the  religious  heart  of  Scotland  beats  towards  them,  they  would 
be  willing  to  suffer  a  word  of  admonition  from  those  to  whom 
love  gives  a  right  to  speak.  As  Christians,  all  have  a  com- 
mon interest  in  what  honors  or  dishonors  Christianity,  and 
an  ocean  between  us  does  not  make  us  less  one  church. 

Most  of  the  speeches  you  will  see  recorded  in  the  papers. 
In  the  course  of  the  evening  there  was  a  second  service  of 
grapes,  oranges,  and  other  fruits,  served  roujad  in  the  same 
quiet  manner  as  the  tea.  On  account  of  the  feeble  state  of 
my  health,  they  kindly  excused  me  before  the  exercises  of 
the  evening  were  over. 

The  next  morning,  at  ten  o'clock,  we  rode  with  a  party 
of  friends  to  see  some  of  the  notahilia.  First,  to  Bothwell 
Castle,  of  old  the  residence  of  tlie  Black  Douglas.  The 
name  had  for  me  the  quality  of  enchantment.  I  cannot 
understand  nor  explain  the  nature  of  that  sad  yearning  and 
longing  with  which  one  visits  the  mouldering  remains  of 
a  state  of  society  which  one's  reason  wholly  disapproves, 
and  which  one's  calm  sense  of  right  would  think  it  the 
greatest  misfortune  to  have  recalled ;  yet  when  the  carriage 
turned  under  the  shadow  of  beautiful  ancient  oalvs,  and  Mr. 
S.  said,  "There,  we  are  in  the  grounds  of  the  old  Black 
Douglas  family ! "  I  felt  every  nerve  shiver.     I  remembered 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 


61 


the  dim  melodies  of  the  Lady  of  the  Lake.  Bothwell's  lord 
was  the  lord  of  this  castle,  whose  beautiful  ruins  here  adorn 
the  banks  of  the  Clyde. 


Whatever  else  we  have  or  may  have  in  America,  we  shall 
never  have  the  wild,  poetic  beauty  of  these  ruins.  The  pres- 
ent noble  possessors  are  fully  aware  of  their  worth  as  objects 
of  taste,  and,  therefore,  with  the  greatest  care  are  they  pre- 
served. Winding  walks  are  cut  through  the  grounds  with 
much  ingenuity,  and  seats  or  ai'bors  are  placed  at  every 
desirable  and  picturesque  point  of  view. 

To  the  thorough-paced  tourist,  who  wants  to  do  the  pro- 
prieties in  the  shortest   possible   time,  this  arrangement  is 

VOL.  L  6 


62  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOKEIGN    LANDS. 

undoubtedly  particulai'ly  satisfactory ;  but  to  the  idealist,  who 
would  like  to  roam,  and  dream,  and  feel,  and  to  come  unex- 
pectedly on  the  choicest  points  of  view,  it  is  rather  a  damper 
to  have  all  his  raptures  prearranged  and  foreordained  for 
him,  set  down  in  tlie  guide  book  and  proclaimed  by  the  guide, 
even  though  it  should  be  done  with  the  most  artistic  accuracy. 

Nevertheless,  when  we  came  to  the  arbor  which  command- 
ed the  finest  view  of  the  old  castle,  and  saw  its  gray,  ivy- 
clad  walls,  standing  forth  on  a  beautiful  point,  round  which 
swept  the  brown,  dimpling  waves  of  the  Clyde,  the  indescrib- 
able sweetness,  sadness,  wUdness  of  the  whole  scene  would 
make  its  voice  heard  in  our  hearts.  "Thy  servants  take 
pleasure  in  her  dust,  and  favor  the  stones  thereof,"  said  an 
old  Hebrew  poet,  who  must  have  felt  the  inexpressibly  sad 
beauty  of  a  ruin.  All  the  splendid  phantasmagoria  of 
chivalry  and  feudalism,  knights,  ladies,  banners,  glittering 
arms,  sweep  before  us ;  the  cry  of  the  battle,  the  noise  of  the 
captains,  and  the  shouting;  and  then  in  contrast  this  deep 
stillness,  that  green,  clinging  ivy,  the  gentle,  rippling  river, 
those  weeping  birches,  dipping  in  its  soft  Avaters  —  all  these, 
in  their  quiet  loveliness,  speak  of  something  more  imperish- 
able than  brute  force. 

The  ivy  on  the  walls  now  displays  a  trunk  in  some  places 
as  large  as  a  man's  body.  In  the  days  of  old  Archibald  the 
Grim,  I  suppose  that  ivy  was  a  little,  weak  twig,  which,  if  he 
ever  noticed,  he  must  have  thought  the  feeblest  and  slight- 
est of  all  things ;  yet  Archibald  has  gone  back  to  dust,  and 
the  ivy  is  still  growing  on.  Such  force  is  there  in  gentle 
things. 

I  have  often  been  dissatisfied  with  the  admiration,  which  a 
poetic  education  has  woven  into  my  nature,  for  chivalry  and 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        63 

feudalism  ;  but,  on  a  closer  examination,  I  am  convinced  that 
there  is  a  real  and  proper  foundation  for  it,  and  that,  rightly 
understood,  this  poetic  admiration  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
spirit  of  Christ. 

For,  let  us  consider  what  it  is  we  admire  in  these  Doug- 
lases, for  instance,  who,  as  represented  by  Scott,  are  perhaps 
as  good  exponents  of  the  idea  as  any.  "Was  it  their  hardness, 
their  cruelty,  their  hastiness  to  take  offence,  their  fondness  for 
blood  and  murder?  All  these,  by  and  of  themselves,  are 
simply  disgusting.  What,  then,  do  we  admire  ?  Their  cour- 
age, their  fortitude,  their  scorn  of  lying  and  dissimulation, 
their  high  sense  of  personal  honor,  which  led  them  to  feel 
themselves  the  protectors  of  the  weak,  and  to  disdain  to  take 
advantage  of  unequal  odds  against  an  enemy.  If  we  read 
the  book  of  Isaiah,  we  shall  see  that  some  of  the  most  strik- 
ing representations  of  God  appeal  to  the  very  same  principles 
of  our  nature. 

The  fact  is,  there  can  be  no  reliable  character  which  has 
not  its  basis  in  these  strong  qualities.  The  beautiful  must 
ever  rest  in  the  arms  of  the  sublime.  The  gentle  needs  the 
strong  to  sustain  it,  as  much  as  the  rock  flowers  need  rocks 
to  grow  on,  or  yonder  ivy  the  rugged  wall  which  it  embraces. 
"When  we  are  admiring  these  things,  therefore,  we  are  only 
admiring  some  sparkles  and  glimmers  of  that  which  is  divine, 
and  so  coming  nearer  to  Him  in  whom  all  fulness  dwells. 

After  admiring  at  a  distance,  we  strolled  through  the  ruins 
themselves.  Do  you  remember,  in  the  Lady  of  the  Lake, 
where  the  exiled  Douglas,  recalling  to  his  daughter  the 
images  of  his  former  splendor,  says, — 

"  When  Blantyre  hymned  her  holiest  lays, 
And  Bothwell's  walls  flung  back  the  praise  "  ? 


64 


SUNNY    31E.MOKU:.S    OF    l-UltKHJN    i.ANDri. 


These  lines  came  forcibly  to  my  mind,  when  I  saw  the  moul- 
dering ruins  of  Blantyre  priory  rising  exactly  opposite  to  the 
castle,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Clyde. 

The  banks  of  the  River  Clyde,  where  we  walked,  were 

thick  set  with  Portuguese  lau- 
rel, which  I  have  before  men- 
tioned as  similar  to  our  rhodo- 
dendron. I  here  noticed  a  fact 
with  regard  to  the  ivy  which 
had  often  puzzled  me ;  and  that 
is,  the  different  shapes  of  its 
leaves  in  the  different  stages  of 
its  growth.  The  young  ivy  has 
this  leaf;  but  when  it  has  be- 
come more  than  a  century  old 
every  trace  and  indentation  melts 
away,  and  it  assumes  this  form, 
which  I  found  afterwards  to  be 
the  invariable  shape  of  all  the 
oldest  i\y,  in  all  the  ruins  of 
Europe  which  I  explored. 
This  ivy,  like  the  spider,  takes  hold  with  her  hands  in 
kings'  palaces,  as  every  twig  is  furnished  with  innumerable 
little  clinging  fingers,  by  which  it  draws  itself  close,  as  it  were, 
to  the  very  heart  of  the  old  rough  stone. 

Its  clinging  and  beautiful  tenacity  has  given  rise  to  an 
abundance  of  conceits  about  fidelity,  friendship,  and  woman's 
love,  which  have  become  commonplace  simply  from  their 
appropriateness.  It  might,  also,  symbolize  that  higher  love, 
unconquerable  and  unconquered,  which  has  embraced  this 
ruined  world  from  age  to  ago,  silently  spreading  its  green 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  65 

over  the  rents  and  fissures  of  our  fallen  nature,  giving 
"  beauty  for  ashes,  and  garments  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of 
heaviness." 

There  is  a  modern  mansion,  where  the  present  proprietor 
of  the  estate  lives.  It  was  with  an  emotion  partaking  of  the 
sorrowful,  that  we  heard  that  the  Douglas  line,  as  such,  was 
extinct,  and  that  the  estate  had  passed  to  distant  connections. 
I  was  told  that  the  present  Lord  Douglas  is  a  peaceful 
clergyman,  quite  a  different  character  from  old  Archibald  the 
Grim. 

The  present  residence  is  a  plain  mansion,  standing  on  a 
beautiful  lawn,  near  the  old  castle.  The  head  gardener  of  the 
estate  and  many  of  the  servants  came  out  to  meet  us,  with 
faces  full  of  interest.  The  gardener  walked  about  to  show  us 
the  localities,  and  had  a  great  deal  of  the  quiet  intelligence 
and  self-respect  which,  I  think,  is  characteristic  of  the  labor- 
ing classes  here.  I  noticed  that  on  the  green  sweep  of  the 
lawn,  he  had  set  out  here  and  there  a  good  many  daisies,  as 
embellishments  to  the  grass,  and  these  in  many  places  were 
defended  by  sticks  bent  over  them,  and  that,  in  one  place,  a 
bank  overhanging  the  stream  was  radiant  with  yellow  daffo- 
dils, which  appeared  to  have  come  up  and  blossomed  there 
accidentally.  I  know  not  whether  these  were  planted  there, 
or  came  up  of  themselves. 

We  next  went  to  the  famous  Bothwell  bridge,  which  Scott 
has  immortalized  in  Old  Mortality.  We  walked  up  and  down, 
trying  to  recall  the  scenes  of  the  battle,  as  there  described, 
and  were  rather  mortified,  after  we  had  all  our  associations 
comfortably  located  upon  it,  to  be  told  that  it  was  not  the 
same  bridge  —  it  had  been  newly  built,  widened,  and  other- 
wise made  more  comfortable  and  convenient. 
G* 


66        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOUEIGN  LANDS. 

Of  course,  this  was  evidently  for  the  benefit  of  society,  but 
it  was  certainly  one  of  those  cases  where  the  poetical  suflers 
for  the  practical.  I  comforted  myself  in  my  despondency,  by 
looking  over  at  the  old  stone  piers  underneath,  which  were 
indisputably  the  same.  "We  drove  now  through  beautiful 
grounds,  and  alighted  at  an  elegant  mansion,  which  in  former 
days  belonged  to  Lockhart,  the  son-in-law  of  Scott.  It  was 
in  this  house  that  Old  Mortality  was  written. 

As  I  was  weary,  the  party  left  me  here,  while  they  went  on 
to  see  the  Duke  of  Hamilton's  grounds.  Our  kind  hostess 
showed  me  into  a  small  study,  where  she  said  Old  Mortality 
was  written.  The  wmdow  commanded  a  beautiful  view  of 
many  of  the  localities  described.  Scott  was  as  particular  to 
consult  for  accuracy  in  his  local  descriptions  as  if  he  had 
been  writing  a  guide  book. 

He  was  in  the  habit  of  noting  down  in  his  memorandum 
book  even  names  and  characteristics  of  the  wild  flowers  and 
grasses  that  grew  about  a  place.  When  a  friend  once  re- 
marked to  him,  that  he  should  have  supposed  his  imagination 
could  have  supphcd  such  trifles,  he  made  an  answer  that  is 
worth  remembering  by  every  artist  —  that  no  imagination 
could  long  support  its  freshness,  that  was  not  nourished  by 
a  constant  and  minute  observation  of  nature. 

Craigncthan  Castle,  which  is  the  original  of  TiUietudlem, 
we  were  informed,  was  not  far  from  thence.  It  is  stated  in 
Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott,  that  the  ruins  of  this  castle  excited 
in  Scott  such  delight  and  enthusiasm,  that  its  owner  urged 
him  to  accept  for  his  lifetime  the  use  of  a  small  habitable 
house,  enclosed  within  the  circuit  of  the  walls. 

After  the  return  of  the  pai*ty  from  Hamilton  Park,  we  sat 
down  to  an  elegant  lunch,  where  my  eye  was  attracted  more 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        67 

than  any  thing  else,  by  the  splendor  of  the  hothouse  flowers 
which  adorned  the  table.  So  far  as  I  have  observed,  the 
culture  of  flowers,  both  in  England  and  Scotland,  is  more 
universally  an  object  of  attention  than  with  us.  Every  fam- 
ily in  easy  circumstances  seems,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to 
have  their  greenhouse,  and  the  flowers  are  brought  to  a 
degree  of  perfection  which  I  have  never  seen  at  home. 

I  may  as  well  say  here,  that  we  were  told  by  a  gentle- 
man, whose  name  I  do  not  now  remember,  that  this  whole 
district  had  been  celebrated  for  its  orchards  ;  he  added, 
however,  that  since  the  introduction  of  the  American  apple 
into  the  market,  its  superior  excellence  had  made  many  of 
these  orchards  almost  entirely  worthless.  It  is  a  curious  fact, 
showing  how  the  new  world  is  working  on  the  old. 

After  taking  leave  of  our  hospitable  friends,  we  took  to  our 
carriages  again.  As  we  were  driving  slowly  through  the 
beautiful  grounds,  admiring,  as  we  never  failed  to  do,  their 
perfect  cultivation,  a  party  of  servants  appeared  in  sight, 
waving  their  hats  and  handkerchiefs,  and  cheering  us  as  we 
passed.  These  kindly  expressions  from  them  were  as  pleas- 
ant as  any  we  received. 

In  tbe  evening  we  had  engaged  to  attend  another  soiree, 
gotten  up  by  the  working  classes,  to  give  admission  to  many 
who  were  not  in  circumstances  to  purchase  tickets  for  the 
other.  This  was  to  me,  if  any  thing,  a  more  interesting  re- 
union,  because  this  was  just  the  class  whom  I  wished  to  meet. 
The  arrangements  of  the  entertainment  were  like  those  of  the 
evening  before. 

As  I  sat  in  the  front  gallery  and  looked  over  the  audience 
with  an  intense  interest,  I  thought  they  appeared  on  the 
whole  very  much  like  what  I  might  have  seen  at  home  in  a 


68  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

similar  gathering.  Men,  women,  and  children  were  dressed 
in  a  style  which  showed  both  self-respect  and  good  taste, 
and  the  speeches  were  far  above  mediocrity.  One  pale  young 
man,  a  watchmaker,  as  I  was  told  afterwards,  delivered  an 
address,  which,  though  doubtless  it  had  the  promising  fault  of 
too  much  elaboration  and  ornament,  yet  I  thought  had  passa- 
ges which  would  do  honor  to  any  literary  periodical  whatever. 

There  were  other  orators  less  highly  finished,  who  yet  spoke 
"  right  on,"  in  a  strong,  forcible,  and  really  eloquent  way,  giving 
the  grain  of  the  wood  without  the  varnish.  They  contended 
very  seriously  and  sensibly,  that  although  the  working  men 
of  England  and  Scotland  had  many  things  to  complain  of, 
and  many  things  to  be  reformed,  yet  their  condition  was 
w^orld-wide  different  from  that  of  the  slave. 

One  cannot  read  the  history  of  the  working  classes  in  Eng- 
land, for  the  last  fifty  years,  without  feeling  sensibly  the  dif- 
ference between  oppressions  under  a  free  government  and 
slavery.  So  long  as  the  working  class  of  England  produces 
orators  and  writers,  such  as  it  undoubtedly  has  produced ;  so 
long  as  it  has  in  it  that  spirit  of  independence  and  resistance 
of  wrong,  which  has  shown  itself  more  and  more  during  the 
agitations  of  the  last  fifty  years ;  and  so  as  long  as  the  law 
allows  them  to  meet  and  debate,  to  form  associations  and  com- 
mittees, to  send  up  remonstrances  and  petitions  to  government, 
—  one  can  see  that  their  case  is  essentially  different  from 
that  of  plantation  slaves. 

I  must  say,  I  was  struck  this  night  with  the  resemblance 
between  the  Scotchman  and  the  New  Englander.  One  sees 
the  distinctive  nationality  of  a  country  more  in  the  middle 
and  laboring  classes  than  in  the  higher,  and  accordingly  at 
this  meeting  there  was  more  nationality,  I  thought,  than  at 
the  other. 


SUNJSY    MEMOlllES    OF    FOKEIGN    LANDS.  69 

The  highest  class  of  mind  in  all  countries  loses  nationality, 
And  becomes  miiversal ;  it  is  a  great  pity,  too,  because  nation- 
ality is  picturesque  always.  One  of  the  greatest  miracles 
to  my  mmd  about  Kossuth  was,  that  with  so  universal  an 
education,  and  such  an  extensive  range  of  language  and 
thought,  he  was  yet  so  distinctively  a  Magyar. 

One  thing  has  surprised  and  rather  disappointed  us.  Our 
enthusiasm  for  Walter  Scott  does  not  apparently  meet  a  re- 
sponse in  the  popular  breast.  Allusions  to  Bannockburn  and 
Drumclog  bring  down  the  house,  but  enthusiasm  for  Scott 
was  met  with  comparative  silence.  We  discussed  this  matter 
among  ourselves,  and  rather  wondered  at  it. 

The  fact  is,  Scott  belonged  to  a  past,  and  not  to  the 
coming  age.  He  beautified  and  adorned  that  which  is  wax- 
ing old  and  passing  away.  He  loved  and  worshipped  in  his 
very  soul  institutions  which  the  majority  of  the  common  peo- 
ple have  felt  as  a  restraint  and  a  burden.  One  might  natu- 
rally get  a  very  difierent  idea  of  a  feudal  castle  by  starving  to 
death  in  the  dungeon  of  it,  than  by  writing  sonnets  on  it  at  a 
picturesque  distance.  Now,  we  in  America  are  so  far  removed 
from  feudalism,  —  it  has  been  a  thing  so  much  of  mere  song 
and  story  with  us,  and  our  sympathies  are  so  unchecked  by 
any  experience  of  inconvenience  or  injustice  in  its  conse- 
quences, —  that  we  are  at  full  liberty  to  appreciate  the  pictur- 
esque of  it,  and  sometimes,  when  we  stand  overlooking  our 
own  beautiful  scenery,  to  wish  that  we  could  see, 

"  On  yon  bold  brow,  a  lordly  tower ; 
In  that  soft  vale,  a  lady's  bower  ; 
In  yonder  meadow,  far  away, 
The  turrets  of  a  cloister  gray ;  " 

when  those  who  know  by  experience  all  the  accompaniments 
of  these  ornaments,  would  have  quite  another  impression. 


70  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOKEIGN    LANDS. 

Nevertheless,  since  there  are  two  worlds  in  man,  the  *ixd 
and  the  ideal,  and  both  have  indisputably  a  right  to  be,  since. 
God  made  the  fiiculties  of  both,  we  must  feel  that  it  is  a 
benefaction  to  mankind,  that  Scott  was  thus  raised  up  as  the 
link,  in  the  ideal  world,  between  the  present  and  the  past. 
It  is  a  loss  to  universal  humanity  to  have  the  imprint  of  any 
phase  of  human  life  and  experience  entirely  blotted  out. 
Scott's  fictions  are  like  this  beautiful  ivy,  with  which  all  the 
ruins  here  are  overgro^vn,  —  they  not  only  adorn,  but,  in  many 
cases,  they  actually  hold  together,  and  prevent  the  crumbling 
mass  from  falling  into  ruins. 

To-morrow  we  are  going  to  have  a  sail  on  the  Clyde. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        71 


LETTER  V. 

AprU  17. 
My  dear  Sister  :  — 

To-day  a  large  party  of  us  started  on  a  small  steamer,  to 
go  down  the  Clyde.  It  has  been  a  very,  very  exciting  day 
to  us.  It  is  so  stimulating  to  be  where  every  name  is  a  poem. 
For  instance,  we  start  at  the  Broomielaw.  This  Broomielaw 
is  a  kind  of  wharf,  or  landing.  Perhaps  in  old  times  it  was 
a  haugh  overgrown  with  broom,  from  whence  it  gets  its  name ; 
this  is  only  my  conjecture,  however. 

We  have  a  small  steamer  quite  crowded  with  people,  our 
excursion  party  being  very  numerous.  In  a  few  minutes 
after  starting,  somebody  says,  — 

"  0,  here's  where  the  Kelvin  enters."     This  starts  up,  — 

"  Let  us  haste  to  Kelvin  Grove." 

Then  soon  we  are  coming  to  Dumbarton  Castle,  and  all  the 
tears  we  shed  over  Miss  Porter's  William  Wallace  seem  to 
rise  up  Uke  a  many-colored  mist  about  it.  The  highest 
peak  of  the  rock  is  still  called  Wallace's  Seat,  and  a  part 
of  the  castle,  Wallace's  Tower ;  and  in  one  of  its  apartments 
a  huge  two-handed  sword  of  the  hero  is  still  shown.  I 
suppose,  in  fact,  Miss  Porter's  sentimental  hero  is  about  as 
much  like  the  real  William  Wallace  as  Daniel  Boone  is  like 
Sir  Charles  Grandison.  Many  a  young  lady,  who  has  cried 
herself  sick  over  Wallace  in  the  novel,  would  have  been  in 
perfect  horror  if  she  could  have  seen  the  real  man.  Still 
Dumbarton  Castle  is  not  a  whit  the  less  picturesque  for  that. 


72  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS. 

Now  comes  the  Leven,  —  that  identical  Leven  Water  known 
in  song,  —  and  on  the  right  is  Leven  Grove. 

"  There,"  said  somebody  to  me,  "  is  the  old  mansion  of  the 
Earls  of  Glencaim."  Quick  as  thought,  flashed  through  my 
mind  tliat  most  eloquent  of  Burns's  poems,  the  Lament  for 
Jiunes,  Earl  of  Glencairn. 

"  The  bridegroom  may  forget  the  bride 
"Was  made  his  wedded  wife  yestreen  ; 
The  monarch  may  forget  the  crown 
That  on  his  head  an  hour  hath  been ; 
The  mother  may  forget  the  child 
That  smiles  sae  sweetly  on  her  knee ; 
But  I'll  remember  thee,  Glencairn, 
And  a'  that  thou  hast  done  for  me." 

Tliis  mansion  is  now  the  seat  of  Graham  of  Gartmor. 

Now  we  are  shown  the  remains  of  old  Cardross  Castle, 
where  it  was  said  Robert  Bruce  breathed  his  last.  And  now 
we  come  near  the  beautiful  grounds  of  Roseneath,  a  green, 
velvet-like  peninsula,  stretching  out  into  the  widening  waters. 

"  Peninsula  ! "  said  C .     "  Why,  Waher  Scott  said  it 

Avas  an  island." 

Certainly,  he  did  declare  most  explicitly  in  the  person  of 
Mr.  Archibald,  the  Duke  of  Argyle's  serving  man,  to  Miss 
DoUie  Dutton,  when  she  insisted  on  going  to  it  by  land,  that 
Roseneath  was  an  island.  It  shows  that  the  most  accurate 
may  be  caught  tripping  sometimes. 

Of  course,  our  heads  were  full  of  David  Deans,  Jeanie,  and 
EfTie,  but  we  saw  nothing  of  them.  The  Duke  of  Argyle's 
Italian  mansion  is  the  most  conspicuous  object. 

Hereupon  there  was  considerable  discussion  on  the  present 
Duke  of  Argyle  among  the  company,  from  which  we  gathered 


SUNNY   MEJfORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS.  73 

that  he  stood  high  in  favor  with  the  popular  mind.  One  said 
that  there  had  been  an  old  prophecy,  probably  uttered  some- 
where up  in  the  Highlands,  where  such  things  are  indigenous, 
that  a  very  good  duke  of  Argyle  was  to  arise  having  red  hair, 
and  that  the  present  duke  had  verified  the  prediction  by  unit- 
ing both  requisites.  They  say  that  he  is  quite  a  young  man, 
with  a  small,  slight  figure,  but  with  a  great  deal  of  energy 
and  acuteness  of  mind,  and  with  the  generous  and  noble  traits 
which  have  distinguished  his  house  in  former  times.  He 
was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Arnold,  a  member  of  the  National  Scotch 
Kirk,  and  generally  understood  to  be  a  serious  and  rehgious 
man.  He  is  one  of  the  noblemen  who  have  been  willing  to 
come  forward  and  make  use  of  his  education  and  talent  in  the 
way  of  popular  lectures  at  lyceums  and  athenaeums ;  as  have 
also  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  and  some 
others.  So  the  world  goes  on.  I  must  think,  with  all  defer- 
ence to  poetry,  that  it  is  much  better  to  deliver  a  lyceum  lec- 
ture than  to  head  a  clan  in  battle  ;  though  I  suppose,  a  centu- 
ry and  a  half  ago,  had  the  thing  been  predicted  to  McCallum- 
more's  old  harper,  he  would  have  been  greatly  at  a  loss  to 
comprehend  the  nature  of  the  transaction. 

Somewhere  about  here,  I  was  presented,  by  his  own  re- 
quest, to  a  broad-shouldered  Scotch  farmer,  who  stood  some 
six  feet  two,  and  who  paid  me  the  compliment  to  say,  that  he 
had  read  my  book,  and  that  he  would  walk  six  miles  to  see  me 
any  day.  Such  a  flattering  evidence  of  discriminating  taste, 
of  course,  disposed  my  heart  towards  him ;  but  when  I  went  up 
and  put  my  hand  into  his  great  prairie  of  a  palm,  I  was  as  a 
grasshopper  in  my  own  eyes.  I  inquired  who  he  was,  and 
was  told  he  was  one  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle's  farmers.  I 
thought  to  myself,  if  all  the  duke's  farmers  were  of  this  pat^ 

VOL.  1.  7 


74        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

tern,  that  he  might  be  able  to  si)eak  to  the  enemy  in  the  gates 
to  some  purpose. 

Roscneath  occupies  the  ground  between  the  Gare  Loch 
and  Loch  Long.  The  Gare  Loch  is  the  name  given  to  a 
bay  formed  by  tlie  River  Clyde,  here  stretching  itself  out 
like  a  lake.  Here  we  landed  and  went  on  shore,  passing 
along  the  sides  of  the  loch,  in  the  little  village  of  Row. 

As  we  w^ere  walking  along  a  carriage  came  up  after  us,  in 
which  were  two  ladies.  A  bunch  of  primroses,  thro\Mi  from 
this  carriage,  fell  at  my  feet.  I  picked  it  up,  and  then  the 
carriage  stopped,  and  the  ladies  requested  to  know  if  I  was 
Mrs.  Stowe.  On  answering  in  the  aflfirmative,  they  urged  me 
so  earnestly  to  come  under  their  roof  and  take  some  refresh- 
ment, that  I  began  to  remember,  what  I  had  partly  lost  sight 
of,  that  I  was  very  tired ;  so,  while  the  rest  of  the  party 
walked  on  to  get  a  distant  view  of  Ben  Lomond,  'Mr.  S.  and 
I  suffered  ourselves  to  be  taken  into  the  carriacje  of  our  un- 
known  friends,  and  carried  up  to  a  charming  little  Italian 
villa,  which  stood,  surrounded  by  flower  gardens  and  pleasure 
grounds,  at  the  head  of  the  loch.  We  were  ushered  into  a 
most  comfortable  parlor,  where  a  long  window,  made  of  one 
clear  unbroken  sheet  of  plate  glass,  gave  a  perfect  view  of 
the  loch  with  all  its  woody  shores,  with  Roseneath  Castle  in 
the  distance.  My  good  hostesses  literally  overwhelmed  mc 
"with  kindness  ;  but  as  there  was  nothing  I  really  needed  so 
much  as  a  little  quiet  rest,  they  took  me  to  a  cozy  bedroom, 
of  which  they  gave  me  the  freedom,  for  the  present.  Docs 
not  every  traveller  know  what  a  luxury  it  is  to  shut  one's 
eyes  sometimes  ?  The  chamber,  which  is  called  "  Peace,"  is 
now,  as  it  was  in  Christian's  days,  one  of  the  best  things  that 
Charity  or  Piety  could  offer  to  the  pilgrim.  Here  I  got  a 
little  brush  from  the  wings  of  dewy-feathered  sleep. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.        75 

After  a  while  our  party  came  back,  and  we  had  to  be  mov- 
ing. My  kind  friends  expressed  so  much  joy  at  having  met 
me,  that  it  was  really  almost  embarrassing.  They  told  me 
that  they,  being  confined  to  the  house  by  ill  health,  and  one 
of  them  by  lameness,  had  had  no  hope  of  ever  seeing  me, 
and  that  this  meeting  seemed  a  wonderful  gift  of  Providence. 
They  bade  me  take  courage  and  hope,  for  they  felt  assured 
that  the  Lord  would  yet  entirely  make  an  end  of  slavery 
through  the  world. 

It  was  concluded,  after  we  left  here,  that,  instead  of  return- 
ing by  the  boat,  we  should  take  carriage  and  ride  home  along 
the  banks  of  the  river.  In  our  carriage  were  Mr.  S.  and  my- 
self, Dr.  Robson  and  Lady  Anderson.  About  this  time  I 
commenced  my  first  essay  towards  giving  titles,  and  made, 
as  you  may  suppose,  rather  an  odd  piece  of  work  of  it,  gen- 
erally saying  "  Mrs."  first,  and  "  Lady  "  afterwards,  and  then 
begging  pardon.  Lady  Anderson  laughed,  and  said  she 
would  give  me  a  general  absolution.  She  is  a  truly  genial, 
hearty  Scotch  woman,  and  seemed  to  enter  happily  into  the 
spirit  of  the  hour. 

As  we  rode  on  we  found  that  the  news  of  our  coming  had 
spread  through  the  village.  PeojDle  came  and  stood  in  their 
doors,  beckoning,  bowing,  smiling,  and  waving  their  handker- 
chiefs, and  the  carriage  was  several  times  stopped  by  persons 
who  came  to  offer  flowers.  I  remember,  in  particular,  a 
group  of  young  girls  brought  to  the  carriage  two  of  the  most 
beautiful  children  I  ever  saw,  whose  little  hands  literally 
deluged  us  with  flowers. 

At  the  village  of  Helensburgh  we  stopped  a  little  while  to 
call  upon  Mrs.  Bell,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Bell,  the  inventor  of  the 
steamboat.     His  invention  in  this  country  was  about  the  same 


76  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

time  of  that  of  Fulton  in  America.  Mrs.  Bell  came  to  the 
carriage  to  speak  to  us.  She  is  a  venerable  woman,  far  ad- 
vanced in  years.  They  had  prepared  a  lunch  for  us,  and 
quite  a  number  of  people  had  come  together  to  meet  us,  but 
our  friends  said  that  there  was  not  time  for  us  to  stop. 

We  rode  through  several  villages  after  this,  and  met  quite 
warm  welcome.  What  pleased  me  was,  that  it  was  not  mainly 
from  the  literary,  nor  the  rich,  nor  the  great,  but  the  plain, 
common  people.  The  butcher  came  out  of  his  stall,  and  the 
baker  from  his  shop,  the  miller,  dusty  with  his  flour,  the 
blooming,  comely,  young  mother,  with  her  baby  in  her  arms, 
all  smiling  and  bowing  with  that  hearty,  intelligent,  friendly 
look,  as  if  they  knew  we  should  be  glad  to  see  them. 

Once,  while  we  stopped  to  change  horses,  I,  for  the  sake  of 
seeing  something  more  of  the  country,  walked  on.  It  seems 
the  honest  landlord  and  his  wife  were  greatly  disappointed  at 
this  ;  however,  they  got  into  the  carriage  and  rode  on  to  see 
me,  and  I  shook  hands  with  them  with  a  right  good  will. 

We  saw  several  of  the  clergymen,  who  came  out  to  meet 
us,  and  I  remember  stopping,  just  to  be  introduced  to  a 
most  delightful  family  who  came  out,  one  by  one,  gray -headed 
father  and  mother,  with  comely  brothers  and  fair  sisters,  look- 
ing all  so  kindly  and  home-like,  that  I  would  have  been  glad 
to  use  the  welcome  that  they  gave  me  to  their  dwelling. 

This  day  has  been  a  strange  phenomenon  to  me.  In  the 
first  place,  I  have  seen  in  all  these  villages  how  universally 
the  people  read.  I  have  seen  how  capable  they  are  of  a  gen- 
erous excitement  and  enthusiasm,  and  how  much  may  be  done 
by  a  work  of  fiction,  so  written  as  to  enlist  those  sympa- 
thies which  are  common  to  all  classes.  Certainly,  a  great 
deal  may  be  eflfected  in  this  way,  if  God  gives  to  any  one 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        77 

tlie  power,  as  I  hope  he  will  to  many.  The  power  of  fictitious 
writing,  for  good  as  well  as  evil,  is  a  thing  which  ought  most 
seriously  to  be  reflected  on.  No  one  can  fail  to  see  that  in 
our  day  it  is  becoming  a  very  great  agency. 

We  came  home  quite  tired,  as  you  may  well  suppose.  You 
will  not  be  surprised  that  the  next  day  I  found  myself  more 
disposed  to  keep  my  bed  than  to  go  out.  I  regretted  it,  be- 
cause, being  Sunday,  I  would  like  to  have  heard  some  of  the 
preachers  of  Glasgow.  I  was,  however,  glad  of  one  quiet 
day  to  recall  my  thoughts,  for  I  had  been  whirling  so  rapidly 
from  scene  to  scene,  that  I  needed  time  to  consider  where  I 
was ;  especially  as  we  were  to  go  to  Edinburgh  on  the 
morrow. 

Towards  sunset  Mr.  S.  and  I  strolled  out  entirely  alone  to 
breathe  a  little  fresh  air.  "We  walked  along  the  banks  of  the 
Kelvin,  quite  down  to  its  junction  with  the  Clyde.  The  Kel- 
vin Grove  of  the  ballad  is  all  cut  away,  and  the  Kelvin  flows 
soberly  between  stone  walls,  with  a  footpath  on  each  side, 
like  a  stream  that  has  learned  to  behave  itself. 

"  There,"  said  ]\Ir.  S.,  as  we  stood  on  the  banks  of  the 
Clyde,  now  lying  flushed  and  tranquil  in  the  light  of  the  set- 
ting sun,  "  over  there  is  Ayrshire." 

"  Ayrshire ! "  I  said  ;  "  what,  where  Bums  lived  ?  " 

"  Yes,  there  is  his  cottage,  far  down  to  the  south,  and  out 
of  sight,  of  course ;   and  there  are  the  bonny  banks  of  Ayr." 

It  seemed  as  if  the  evenin«r  air  brouo-ht  a  kind  of  si^h  with 
it.  Poor  Burns  !  how  inseparably  he  has  woven  himself  with 
the  warp  and  woof  of  every  Scottish  association ! 

We  saw  a  great  many  children  of  the  poor  out  playing 
—  rosy,  fine  little  urchins,  worth,  any  one  of  them,  a  dozen 
bleached,  hothouse  flowers.  "We  stopped  to  hear  them  talk, 
7* 


78  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

and  it  was  amusing  to  hear  the  Scotch  of  AVaUer  Scott  and 
Burns  shouted  out  with  such  a  right  good  will.  "We  were  as 
much  struck  by  it  as  an  honest  Yankee  was  in  Paris  by  the 
proficiency  of  the  children  in  speaking  French. 

The  next  day  we  bade  farewell  to  Glasgow,  overwhelmed 
with  kindness  to  the  last,  and  only  oppressed  by  the  thought, 
how  little  that  was  satisfactory  we  were  able  to  give  in 
return. 

Again  in  the  railroad  car  on  our  way  to  Edinburgh.  A 
pleasant  two  hours'  trip  is  this  from  Glasgow  to  Edinburgh. 
When  the  cars  stopped  at  Linlithgow  station,  the  name 
started  us  as  out  of  a  dream. 

There,  sure  enough,  before  our  eyes,  on  a  gentle  eminence 
stood  the  moulderinor  ruins  of  which  Scott  has  sung :  — 


•o 


"  Of  all  the  palaces  so  fair, 

Built  for  the  royal  dwelling, 
In  Scotland,  far  beyond  compare 

Linlithgow  is  excelling  ; 
And  in  its  park  in  genial  June, 
How  sweet  the  merry  linnet's  tune, 

How  blithe  the  blackbird's  lay  ! 
The  wild  buck's  bells  from  thorny  brake, 
The  coot  dives  merry  on  the  lake,  — 
The  saddest  heart  might  pleasure  take, 

To  see  a  scene  so  gay." 

Here  was  bom  that  woman  whose  beauty  and  whose  name 
are  set  in  the  strong,  rough  Scotch  heart,  as  a  diamond  in 
granite.  Poor  Mary  !  When  her  father,  who  lay  on  his  death 
bed  at  that  time  in  Falkland,  was  told  of  her  birth,  he  an- 
swered, "  Is  it  so  ?  Then  God's  will  be  done !  It  [the  king- 
dom] came  with  a  lass,  and  it  will  go  with  a  lass ! "  With  these 
words  he  turned  his  face  to  the  wall,  and  died  of  a  broken 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 


79 


'*->|^^ 


heart.  Certainly,  some  people  appear  to  be  bom  under  an 
evil  destiny. 

Here,  too,  in  Linlitligow  church,  tradition  says  that  James 
IV.  was  warned,  by  a  strange  appai-ition,  against  that  expedi- 
tion to  England  which  cost  him  his  life.  Scott  has  worked 
this  incident  up  into  a  beautiful  description  in  the  fourth  canto 
of  Marmion. 

The  castle  has  a  very  sad  and  romantic  appearance,  stand- 
ing there  all  alone  as  it  does,  looking  down  into  the  quiet  lake. 
It  is  said  that  the  internal  architectural  decorations  are  ex- 
ceedingly rich  and  beautiful,  and  a  resemblance  has  been 
traced  between  its  style  of  ornament  and  that  of  Heidelber"- 


80  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOUEIGN    LANDS. 

Castle,  which  lias  been  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the 
Princess  Elizabeth,  who  was  the  sovereign  lady  of  Heidelberg, 
spent  many  of  the  earlier  years  of  her  life  in  this  place. 

Not  far  from  here  we  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  ruins  of 
Niddrie  Castle,  where  Mary  spent  the  first  night  after  her 
escape  from  Lochleven. 

The  Avon  here  at  Linlithgow  is  spanned  by  a  viaduct, 
which  is  a  fine  work  of  art.  It  has  twenty-five  arches,  which 
are  from  seventy  to  eighty  feet  high  and  fifty  wide. 

As  the  cars  neared  Edinburgh  we  all  exclaimed  at  its 
beauty,  so  worthily  commemorated  by  Scott :  — 

"  Such  dusky  grandeur  clothes  the  height, 
Where  the  huge  castle  holds  its  state, 

And  all  the  steeps  slope  down, 
Whose  ridgy  back  heaves  to  the  sky, 
Piled  deep  and  massy,  close  and  high, 

Mine  own  romantic  town  !  " 

Edin'burgh  has  had  an  effect  on  the  literary  history  of  the 
world  for  the  last  fifty  years,  that  cannot  be  forgotten  by 
any  one  approaching  her.  The  air  seemed  to  be  full  of 
spirits  of  those  who,  no  longer  living,  have  woven  a  part  of 
the  thread  of  our  existence.  I  do  not  know  that  the  short- 
ness of  Ijuman  life  ever  so  oppressed  me  as  it  did  on  coming 
near  to  the  city. 

At  the  station  house  the  cars  stopped  amid  a  crowd  of  peo- 
])!<',  who  had  assembled  to  meet  us.  The  lord  provost  met 
us  at  the  door  of  the  car,  and  presented  us  to  the  magistracy 
of  the  city,  and  the  committees  of  the  Edinburgh  antislavery 
societies.  The  drab  dresses  and  pure  white  bonnets  of  many 
Friends  were  conspicuous  among  the  dense  moving  crowd,  as 
white  doves  seen  against  a  dark  cloud.     Mr.  S.  and  myself,     * 


SUNNY   MEirORIES    OF  FOREIGN    LANDS.  81 

and  our  future  hostess,  Mrs.  TVigliam,  entered  the  carriage 
with  the  lord  provost,  and  away  we  drove,  the  crowd  follow- 
ing with  their  shouts  and  cheers.  I  was  inexpressibly  touched 
and  affected  by  this.  "While  we  were  passing  the  monument 
of  Scott,  I  felt  an  oppressive  melancholy.  "What  a  moment 
life  seems  in  the  presence  of  the  noble  dead !  What  a  mo- 
mentary thing  is  art,  in  all  its  beauty !  "Where  are  all  those 
great  souls  that  have  created  such  an  atmosphere  of  light 
about  Edinburgh  ?  and  how  little  a  space  was  given  them  to 
live  and  to  enjoy  ! 

"We  drove  all  over  Edinburgh,  up  to  the  castle,  to  the 
university,  to  Holyrood,  to  the  hospitals,  and  through  many 
of  the  principal  streets,  amid  shouts,  and  smiles,  and  greet- 
ings. Some  boys  amused  me  very  much  by  their  pertinacious 
attempts  to  keep  up  with  the  carriage. 

"  Heck,"  says  one  of  them,  "  that's  her  ;  see  the  courts  " 

The  various  engravers,  who  have  amused  themselves  by 
diversifying  my  face  for  the  public,  having  all,  with  great  una- 
nimity, agreed  in  giving  prominence  to  this  point,  I  suppose 
the  urchins  thought  they  were  on  safe  ground  there.  I  cer- 
tainly think  I  answered  one  good  purpose  that  day,  and  that 
is,  of  giving  the  much  oppressed  and  calumniated  class,  called 
boys,  an  opportunity  to  develop  all  the  noise  that  was  in  them 
—  a  thing  for  which  I  think  they  must  bless  me  in  their 
remembrances. 

At  last  the  carriage  drove  into  a  deep  gravelled  yard,  and 
we  alighted  at  a  porch  covered  with  green  ivy,  and  found 
ourselves  once  more  at  home. 


BSi  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 


LETTER    VI. 

Mr  DEAR  Sister:  — 

You  may  spare  jour  anxieties  about  me,  for  I  do  assure 
you,  that  if  I  were  an  old  Sevres  China  jar,  I  could  not  have 
more  careful  handling  than  I  do.  Every  body  is  considerate  ; 
a  great  deal  to  say,  when  there  appears  to  be  so  much  excite- 
ment. Every  body  seems  to  understand  how  good  for  nothing 
I  am ;  and  yet,  with  all  this  consideration,  I  have  been  obliged 
to  keep  my  room  and  bed  for  a  good  part  of  the  time.  One 
agi-eeable  feature  of  the  matter  is,  it  gave  me  an  opportunity 
to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  celebrated  homoeopathic  phy- 
sician, Dr.  Henderson,  in  whose  experiments  and  experience 
I  had  taken  some  interest  wliile  in  America. 

Of  the  multitudes  who  have  called,  I  have  seen  scarcely  any. 

Mrs.  W.,  with  whom  I  am  staying,  is  a  most  thoughtful 
nurse.  They  are  Friends,  and  nothing  can  be  more  a  pattern 
of  rational  home  enjoyment,  without  ostentation  and  without 
parade,  tlian  a  Quaker  family. 

Tliough  they  reject  every  thing  in  arrangement  which  sa- 
vors of  ostentation  and  worldly  show,  yet  their  homes  are  ex- 
quisite in  point  of  comfort.  They  make  great  use  of  flowers 
and  natural  specimens  in  adorning  their  apartments,  and  also 
indulge  to  a  chaste  and  moderate  extent  in  engravings  and 
Avorks  of  art.  So  far  as  I  have  observed,  they  are  all  "  tee- 
totalers ;"  giving,  in  this  respect,  the  whole  benefit  of  their 
example  to  the  temperance  cause 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OP   FOREIGN    LANDS.  83 

To-moiTow  evening  is  to  be  the  great  tea  party  here.  How 
in  the  world  I  am  ever  to  live  through  it,  I  don't  know. 

The  amount  of  letters  we  found  waiting  for  us  here  in  Ed- 
inburgh was,  if  possible,  more  appalling  than  in  Glasgow. 
Among  those  from  persons  whom  you  would  be  interested  in 
hearing  of,  I  may  mention  a  very  kind  and  beautiful  otie  from 
the  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  and  one  also  from  the  Earl  of 
Carlisle,  both  desiring  to  make  appointments  for  meeting  us  as 
soon  as  we  come  to  London.  Also  a  very  kind  and  interest- 
ing note  from  the  Eev.  Mr.  Kingsley  and  lady.  I  look  for- 
ward with  a  great  deal  of  interest  to  passing  a  httle  time  with 
them  in  their  rectory.  Letters  also  from  Mr.  Binney  and 
Mr.  Sherman,  two  of  the  leading  Congi-egational  clerg}^men  of 
London.  The  latter  officiates  at  Surrey  Chapel,  which  was 
established  by  Rowland  Hill.  Both  contain  invitations  to  us 
to  visit  them  in  London. 

As  to  all  engagements,  I  am  in  a  state  of  happy  acquies- 
cence, having  resigned  myself,  as  a  very  tame  lion,  into  the 
hands  of  my  keepers.  Whenever  the  time  comes  for  me  to 
do  any  thing,  I  try  to  behave  as  well  as  I  can,  which,  as  Dr. 
Young  says,  is  all  that  an  angel  could  do  in  the  same  cir- 
cumstances. 

As  to  these  letters,  many  of  them  are  mere  outbursts  of 
feeling ;  yet  they  are  interesting  as  showing  the  state  of  the 
public  mind.  Many  of  them  are  on  kindred  topics  of  moral 
reform,  in  which  they  seem  to  have  an  intuitive  sense  that  we 
should  be  interested.     I  am  not,  of  course,  able  to  answer 

them  all,  but  C does,  and  it  takes  a  good  part  of  every 

day.  One  was  from  a  shoemaker's  wife  in  one  of  the  islands, 
with  a  copy  of  very  fair  verses.  Many  have  come  accom- 
panying little  keepsakes  and  gifts.     It  seems  to  me  rather 


84        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

touching  and  sad,  that  people  should  want  to  give  me  thmgs, 
when  I  am  not  able  to  give  an  interview,  or  even  a  note,  in 
return.  C wrote  from  six  to  twelve  o'clock,  steadily,  an- 
swering letters.  • 

April  2C.  Last  night  came  off  the  soiree.  The  hall  was 
handsomely  decorated  with  flags  in  front.  We  went  with  tlie 
lord  provost  in  his  carriage.  The  getting  in  to  the  hall  is  quite 
an  affair,  I  assure  you,  the  doorway  is  blocked  up  by  such  a 
dense  crowd ;  yet  there  is  something  very  touching  about 
these  crowds.  They  open  very  gently  and  quietly,  and  they 
do  not  look  at  you  with  a  rude  stare,  but  wdth  faces  full  of 
feelinn;  and  intelligence.  I  have  seen  some  looks  that  were 
really  beautiful ;  they  go  to  my  heart.  The  common  people 
appear  as  if  they  knew  that  our  hearts  were  vrith  them. 
How  else  should  it  be,  as  Clu-istians  of  America  ?  —  a  country 
which,  but  for  one  fault,  all  the  world  has  reason  to  love. 

"We  went  up,  as  before,  into  a  dressing  room,  where  I  was 
presented  to  many  gentlemen  and  ladies.  When  we  go  in, 
the  cheering,  clapping,  and  stamping  at  first  strikes  one  with 
a  strange  sensation  ;  but  then  every  body  looks  so  heartily 
pleased  and  delighted,  and  there  is  such  an  all-pervaduig  at- 
mosphere of  geniality  and  sympathy,  as  makes  one  in  a  few 
moments  feel  quite  at  home.  After  all  I  consider  that  these 
cheers  and  applauses,  are  Scotland's  voice  to  America,  a  re- 
cognition of  the  brotherhood  of  the  countries. 

We  were  arranged  at  this  meeting  much  as  in  Glasgow. 
The  lord  provost  presided ;  and  in  the  gallery  with  us  were 
distinguished  men  from  the  magistracy,  the  university,  and  the 
ministry,  with  their  wives,  besides  the  members  of  the  anti- 
slavery  societies.  The  lord  provost,  I  am  told,  has  been 
particularly  efficient  in  all  benevolent  operations,  especially 


SUNNY   MEMOEIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  85 

those  for  the  education  of  the  poorer  classes.  He  is  also  a 
zealous  supporter  of  the  temperance  cause. 

Among  the  speakers,  I  was  especially  interested  in  Dr. 
Gutlu-ie,  who  seems  to  be  also  a  particular  favorite  of  the 
public.  He  is  a  tall,  thin  man,  with  a  kind  of  quaintness  in 
his  mode  of  expressing  himself,  which  sometimes  gives  an  air 
of  drollery  to  his  speaking.  He  is  a  minister  of  the  Free 
Church,  and  has  more  particularly  distinguished  himself  by 
his  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  poorer  classes. 

One  passage  in  his  speech  I  will  quote,  for  I  was  quite 
amused  with  it.  It  was  in  allusion  to  the  retorts  wliich  had 
been  made  in  Mrs.  Tyler's  letter  to  the  ladies  of  England, 
on  the  defects  in  the  old  country. 

"I  do  not  deny,"  he  said,  "that  there  are  defects  in  our 
country.  What  I  say  of  them  is  this — that  they  are  incidental 
very  much  to  an  old  country  like  our  own.  Dr.  Simpson 
knows  very  well,  and  so  does  every  medical  man,  that  when  a 
man  gets  old  he  gets  very  infirm,  his  blood  vessels  get  ossified, 
and  so  on ;  but  I  shall  not  enter  into  that  part  of  the  sub- 
ject. "What  is  true  of  an  old  country  is  true  of  old  men,  and 
old  women,  too.  I  am  very  much  disposed  to  say  of  this 
young  nation  of  America,  that  their  teasing  us  with  our  de- 
fects might  just  get  the  answer  which  a  worthy  member  of 
the  church  of  Scotland  gave  to  his  son,  who  was  so  dissatis- 
fied with  the  defects  in  the  church,  that  he  was  determined  to 
go  over  to  a  younger  communion.  *  Ah,  Sandy,  Sandy,  man, 
when  your  lum  reeks  as  lang  as  ours,  it  will,  may  be,  need 
sweeping  too.'  *    Now,  I  do  not  deny  that  we  need  sweeping ; 

*  When  your  chimney  has  smoked  as  long  as  ours,  it  will,  may  be,  need 
sweeping  too. 

VOL.   I.  8 


86        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

every  body  knows  that  I  have  been  singing  out  about  sweep- 
ing for  the  last  live  years.  Let  me  tell  my  good  friends  in 
Edinburgh,  and  in  the  country,  that  the  sooner  you  sweep  the 
better  ;  for  the  chimney  may  catch  lire,  and  reduce  your  noble 
fabric  to  ashes. 

"  They  told  us  in  that  letter  about  the  poor  needlewomen, 
that  had  to  work  sixteen  hours  a  day.  *  'Tis  true,  and  i)ity 
'tis  'tis  true.'  But  does  the  law  compel  them  to  work  sixteen 
hours  a  day?  I  would  like  to  ask  the  writer  of  the  letter. 
Are  they  bound  down  to  their  garrets  and  cellars  for  sixteen 
hours  a  day  ?  May  they  not  go  where  they  like,  and  a;>k 
better  wages  and  better  work  ?  Can  the  slave  do  that  ?  Do 
they  tell  us  of  our  ragged  children  ?  I  knfew  something  about 
ragged  children.  But  are  our  ragged  children  condemned  to 
the  street  ?  If  I,  or  the  lord  provost,  or  any  other  benevo- 
lent man,  should  take  one  of  them  from  the  street  and  bring 
it  to  the  school,  dare  the  policeman  —  miscalled  officer  of 
justice  —  put  his  foot  across  the  door  to  drag  it  out  again 
to  the  street  ?  Nobody  means  to  defend  our  defects ;  does 
any  man  attempt  to  defend  them?  "Were  not  these  noble 
ladies  and  excellent  women,  titled  and  untitled,  among  the 
very  first  to  seek  to  redress  them  ?  " 

I  wish  I  could  give  you  the  strong,  broad  Scotch  accent. 

The  national  penny  otfering,  consisting  of  a  thousand  golden 
sovereigns  on  a  magnificent  silver  salver,  stood  conspicuously 
in  view  of  the  audience.  It  has  been  an  unsolicited  otfering, 
given  in  the  smallest  sums,  often  from  the  extreme  poverty 
of  the  giver.  Thie  committee  who  collected  it  in  Edinburgh 
and  Glasgow  bore  witness  to  the  willingness  with  which  the 
very  poorest  contributed  the  offering  of  their  sympathy.  In 
one  cottage  they  found  a  blind  woman,  and  said,  "  Here,  at 


<►• 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.       87 

least,  is  one  who  will  feel  no  interest,  as  slie  cannot  have  read 
the  book." 

"  Indeed,"  said  the  old  lady,  "  if  I  cannot  read,  my  son  has 
read  it  to  me,  and  I've  got  my  penny  saved  to  give." 

It  is  to  my  mind  extremely  touching  to  see  how  the  poor, 
in  their  poverty,  can  be  moved  to  a  generosity  surpassing  that 
of  the  rich.  Nor  do  I  mourn  that  they  took  it  from  their 
slender  store,  because  I  know  that  a  penny  given  from  a 
kindly  impulse  is  a  greater  comfort  and  blessing  to  the  poor- 
est giver  than  even  a  pehny  received. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  other  meeting,  we  came  out  long  be- 
fore the  speeches  were  ended.  Well,  of  course,  I  did  not 
sleep  any  all  night.  The  next  day  I  felt  quite  miserable. 
Mrs.  W.  went  with  Mr.  S.  and  myself  for  a  quiet  drive  in 
her  carriage. 

It  was  a  beautiful,  sunny  day  that  we  drove  out  to  Craig- 
miller  Castle,  formerly  one  of  the  royal  residences.  It  was 
here  that  Mary  retreated  after  the  murder  of  Rizzio,  and 
where,  the  chronicler  says,  she  was  often  heard  in  those  days 
wishing  that  she  were  in  her  grave.  It  seems  so  strange  to 
see  it  standing  there  all  alone,  in  the  midst  of  grassy  fields, 
so  silent,  and  cold,  and  soHtary.  I  got  out  of  the  carriage 
and  walked  about  it.  The  short,  green  grass  was  gemmed 
with  daisies,  and  sheep  were  peacefully  feeding  and  resting, 
where  was  once  all  the  life  and  bustle  of  a  court. 

We  had  no  one  to  open  the  inside  of  the  castle  for  us, 
where  there  are  still  some  tolerably  preserved  rooms,  but 
we  strolled  listlessly  about,  looking  through  the  old  arches, 
and  peeping  through  slits  and  loopholes  into  the  interior. 

The  last  verse  of  Queen  Mai*y's  lamentation  seemed  to  be 
siGrhinir  in  the  air  :  — 


,88  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

**  O,  soon  for  mo  shall  simmpr's  suns 

Nac  mair  light  up  tlic  mom  ; 
Nae  mair  for  me  the  autumn  wind 

Wave  o'er  the  yellow  corn. 
But  in  the  narrow  house  of  death 

Let  winter  round  me  rave, 
And  the  next  flowers  that  deck  the  spring 

Bloom  on  my  peaceful  grave." 

Only  yesterday,  it  seemed,  since  that  poor  lieart  was  yearn- 
in":  Jind  strufj<2;linf]:,  cau";ht  in  the  toils  of  this  sorrowful  life. 
How  many  times  she  looked  on  thisijiandscape  through  sad 
eyes  I  I  suppose  just  such  little  daisies  grew  here  in  the 
grass  then,  and  perhaps  she  stooped  and  picked  them,  wish- 
ing, just  as  I  do,  that  the  pink  did  not  grow  on  the  under  side 
of  them,  where  it  does  not  show.  Do  you  know  that  this 
little  daisy  is  the  gowan  of  Scotch  poetry  ?  So  I  was  told  by 
a  "  charming  young  Jessie  "  in  Glasgow,  one  day  when  I  was 
ridini'  out  there. 

The  view  from  Craigmiller  is  beautiful  —  Auld  Reekie, 
Arthur's  Seat,  Salisbury  Crags,  and  far  down  the  Frith  of 
Forth,  where  we  can  just  dimly  see  the  Bass  Rock,  celebrated 
as  a  prison,  where  the  Covenanters  were  immured. 

It  was  tliis  fortress  that  Habakkuk  Mucklewrath  speaks 
of  in  his  ravings,  when  he  says,  "  Am  not  I  Habakkuk  Muc- 
klewrath, whose  name  is  changed  to  Magor-Missabib,  because 
I  am  made  a  terror  unto  myself,  and  unto  all  that  are  around 
me  ?  I  heard  it :  when  did  I  hear  it  ?  Was  it  not  in  the 
tower  of  the  Bass,  that  overhangeth  the  wide,  w^ild  sea  ?  and 
it  howled  in  the  w^inds,  and  it  roared  in  the  billows,  and  it 
screamed,  and  it  whistled,  and  it  clanged,  with  the  screams, 
and  the  clang,  and  the  whistle  of  the  sea  birds,  as  they  floats 
cd,  and  flew,  and  dropped,  and  dived,  on  the  bosom  of  the 
waters." 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 


89 


These  Salisbury  Crags,  which  overlook  Edinburgh,  have  a 
very  peculiar  outline  ;  they  resemble  an  immense  elephant 
crouching  down.  We  passed  Mushats  Cairn,  where  Jeanie 
Deans  met  Robertson  ;  and  saw  Liberton,  where  Reuben  But- 
ler was  a  schoolmaster.  Nobody  doubts,  I  hope,  the  histor- 
ical accuracy  of  these  points. 

Thursday,  21st.  We  took  cars  for  Aberdeen.  The  appro- 
priation of  old  historical  names  to  railroad  stations  often  re- 
minds me  of  Hood's  whimsical  lines  on  a  possible  railroad  in 
the  Holy  Land.  Think  of  having  Bannockburn  shouted  by 
the  station  master,  as  the  train  runs  whistling  up  to  a  small 
8* 


90        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

station  house.  Notliing  to  be  seen  there  but  broad,  silent 
meadows,  tlirou^li  wliich  tlie  burn  -svimijlcs  its  way.  Here 
was  the  very  Marathon  of  Scotkand.  I  suppose  we  know 
more  about  it  from  the  "  Scots  wha  ha'  wi'  Wallace  bled," 
than  we  do  from  history ;  yet  the  real  scene,  as  naiTated  by 
the  historian,  has  a  moral  grandeur  in  it. 

The  chronicler  tells  us,  that  when  on  this  occasion  the  Scots 
formed  their  line  of  battle,  and  a  venerable  abbot  passed  along, 
holding  up  the  cross  before  them,  the  whole  army  fell  upon 
their  knees.  ^ 

"  These  Scots  will  not  fight,"  said  Edward,  who  was  recon- 
noitring at  a  distance.  "  See !  they  are  all  on  their  knees 
now  to  beg  for  mercy." 

"  They  kneel,"  said  a  lord  who  stood  by,  "  but  it  is  to  God 
alone  ;  trust  me,  those  men  will  win  or  die." 

The  bold  lyric  of  Burns  is  but  an  inspired  kind  of  version 
of  the  real  address  which  Bruce  is  said  to  have  made  to  his 
followers ;  and  whoever  reads  it  will  see  that  its  power  lies  not 
in  appeal  to  brute  force,  but  to  the  highest  elements  of  our 
nature,  the  love  of  justice,  the  sense  of  honor,  and  to  disin- 
terestedness, self-sacrifice,  courage  unto  death. 

These  things  will  live  and  form  high  and  imperishable  ele- 
ments of  our  nature,  when  mankind  have  learned  to  develop 
tliem  in  other  spheres  than  that  of  pliysical  force.  Burns's 
lyric,  therefore,  has  in  it  an  element  which  may  rouse  the 
heart  to  noble  endurance  and  devotion,  even  when  the  world 
shall  learn  war  no  more. 

We  passed  through  the  town  of  Stirling,  whose  castle,  mag- 
nificently seated  on  a  rocky  throne,  looks  right  worthy  to  have 
been  the  seat  of  Scotland's  court,  as  it  was  for  many  years. 
It  brought  to  our  minds  all  the  last  scenes  of  the  Lady  of  the 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        91 

Lake,  which  are  laid  here  with  a  minuteness  of  local  descrip- 
tion and  allusion  characteristic  of  Scott. 

According  to  our  guide  book,  one  might  find  there  the  visi- 
ble counterpart  of  every  thing  which  he  has  woven  into  his 
beautiful  fiction  —  "  the  Lady's  Rock,  which  rang  to  the  ap- 
plause of  the  multitude  ;  "  "  the  Franciscan  steeple,  which 
pealed  the  merry  festival ; "  "  the  sad  and  fatal  mound," 
apostrophized  by  Douglas,  — 

"  That  oft  has  heard  the  death-axe  sound 
As  on  the  noblest  of  the  land, 
Fell  the  stern  headsman's  bloody  hand  ;  "  — 

the  room  in  the  castle,  where  "  a  Douglas  by  his  sovereign 
bled ; "  and  not  far  off  the  ruins  of  Cambuskenneth  Abbey. 
One  could  not  but  think  of  the  old  days  Scott  has  described. 

"  The  castle  gates  were  open  flung, 
The  quivering  drawbridge  rocked  and  rung, 
And  echoed  loud  the  flinty  street 
Beneath  the  coursers'  clattering  feet, 
As  slowly  down  the  steep  descent 
Fair  Scotland's  king  and  nobles  went, 
While  all  along  the  crowded  way 
Was  jubilee  and  loud  huzza." 

The  place  has  been  long  deserted  as  a  palace ;  but  it  is  one 
of  the  four  fortresses,  which,  by  the  articles  of  union  between 
Scotland  and  England,  are  always  to  be  kept  in  repair. 

We  passed  by  the  town  of  Perth,  the  scene  of  the  "  Fair 
Maid's"  adventures.  We  had  received  an  invitation  to  visit 
it,  but  for  want  of  time  were  obhged  to  defer  it  till  our  return 
to  Scotland. 

Somewhere  along  here  Mr.  S.  was  quite  excited  by  our 


92  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

proximity  to  Scone,  the  old  crowning-place  of  the  Scottish 
kings  ;  however,  the  old  castle  is  entirely  demolished,  and  su- 
perseded by  a  modern  mansion,  the  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Mans- 
field. 

Still  forther  on,  surrounded  by  dark  and  solemn  woods, 
stands  Glamis  Castle,  the  scene  of  the  tragedy  in  Macbeth. 
We  could  see  but  a  glimpse  of  it  from  the  road,  but  the  very 
sound  of  the  name  was  enough  to  stimulate  our  imagination. 
It  is  still  an  inhabited  dwelling,  though  much  to  the  regret  of 
antiquarians  and  lovers  of  the  picturesque,  the  characteristic 
outworks  and  defences  of  the  feudal  ages,  which  surrounded  it, 
have  been  levelled,  and  velvet  lawns  and  gravel  walks  carried 
to  the  very  door.  Scott,  who  passed  a  night  there  in  1793, 
while  it  was  yet  in  its  pristine  condition,  comments  on  the 
change  mournfully,  as  undoubtedly  a  true  lover  of  the  past 
would.  Albeit  the  grass  plats  and  the  gravel  walks,  to  the 
eye  of  sense,  are  undoubtedly  much  more  agreeable  and  con- 
venient. Scott  says  in  his  Dcmonology,  that  he  never  came 
any  where  near  to  beifig  overcome  with  a  superstitious  feeling, 
except  twice  in  his  life,  and  one  was  on  the  night  when  he 
slept  in  Glamis  Castle.  The  poetical  and  the  practical  ele- 
ments in  Scott's  mind  ran  together,  side  by  side,  without  mix- 
ing, as  evidently  as  the  waters  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monon- 
gahela  at  Pittsburg.  Scarcely  ever  a  man  had  so  much  relish 
for  the  supernatural,  and  so  little  faith  in  it.  One  must  con- 
fess, however,  that  the  most  sceptical  might  have  been  over- 
come at  Glamis  Castle,  for  its  appearance,  by  all  accounts,  is 
weird  and  strange,  and  ghostly  enough  to  start  the  dullest 
imagination. 

On  this  occasion  Scott  says,  "After  a  very  hospitable  re- 
ception from  the  late  Peter  Proctor,  seneschal  of  the  castle,  I 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS.  93 

was  conducted  to  my  apai-tment  in  a  distant  part  of  the  build- 
ing. I  must  own,  that  when  I  heai'd  door  after  door  shut, 
after  my  conductor  had  retired,  I  began  to  consider  myself  as 
too  ftir  from  the  hving,  and  somewhat  too  near  the  dead.  We 
had  passed  through  what  is  called  *  the  King's  Room,'  a  vault- 
ed apartment,  garnished  with  stags'  antlers  and  similar  trophies 
of  the  chase,  and  said  by  tradition  to  be  the  spot  of  Malcolm's 
murder,  and  I  had  an  idea  of  the  vicinity  of  the  castle  chapel. 
In  spite  of  the  truth  of  history,  the  whole  night  scene  in  Mac- 
beth's  castle  rushed  at  once  upon  my  mind,  and  struck  my 
imagination  more  forcibly  than  even  when  I  have  seen  its  ter- 
rors represented  by  the  late  John  Kemble  and  his  inimitable 
sister.  In  a  word,  I  experienced  sensations  which,  though 
not  remarkable  either  for  timidity  or  superstition,  did  not  fail 
to  affect  me  to  the  point  of  being  disagreeable,  while  they 
were  mingled  at  the  same  time  with  a  strange  and  indescriba- 
ble kind  of  pleasure." 

Externally,  the  building  is  quaint  and  singular  enough ;  tall 
and  gaunt,  crested  with  innumerable  little  pepper  box  turrets 
and  conical  towers,  like  an  old  French  chateau. 

Besides  the  tragedy  of  Macbeth,  another  story  of  stiU  more 
melancholy  interest  is  connected  with  it,  which  a  pen  like  that 
of  Hawthorne,  might  work  up  with  gloomy  power. 

In  1537  the  young  and  beautiful  Lady  Glamis  of  this  place 
was  actually  tried  and  executed  for  witchcraft.  Only  think, 
now !  what  capabilities  in  this  old  castle,  with  its  gloomy 
pine  shades,  quaint  architecture,  and  weird  associations,  with 
this  bit  of  historic  verity  to  start  upon. 

Walter  Scott  says,  there  is  in  the  castle  a  secret  chamber  ; 
the  entrance  to  which,  by  the  law  of  the  family,  can  be  known 
only  to  thi-ee  persons  at  once  —  the  lord  of  the  castle,'  his  heir 


94 


SUNNY  mi:mohils  of  foreign  lands. 


apparent,  and  any  third  person  whom  they  might  choose  to 
take  into  their  confidence.  See,  now,  the  materials  which  the 
past  gives  to  the  novehst  or  poet  in  tliese  old  countries. 
These  ancient  castles  are  standing  romances,  made  to  the 
author's  hands.  The  castle  started  a  tallv  upon  Shakspeare, 
and  how  much  of  the  tragedy  he  made  up,  and  how  much 
he  found  ready  to  his  hand  in  tradition  and  history.  It  seems 
the  story  is  all  told  in  Ilolingshed's  Chronicles  ;  but  his  fer- 
tile mind  has  added  some  of  the  most  thrilhng  touches,  such 
as  the  sleep  walking  of  Lady  Macbeth.  It  always  seemed 
to  me  that  this  tragedy  had  more  of  the  melancholy  majesty 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        95 

and  power  of  the  Greek  than  any  tiling  modern.  The 
striking  difference  is,  that  wliile  fate  was  the  radical 
element  of  those,  free  will  is  not  less  distinctly  the  basis  of 
this.  Strangely  enough,  while  it  commences  with  a  super- 
natural oracle,  there  is  not  a  trace  of  flitalism  in  it;  but 
through  all,  a  clear,  distinct  recognition  of  moral  responsi- 
bility, of  the  power  to  resist  evil,  and  the  guilt  of  yielding  to 
it.  The  theology  of  Shakspeare  is  as  remarkable  as  his 
poetry.  A  strong  and  clear  sense  of  man's  moral  responsi- 
bility and  free  agency,  and  of  certain  future  retribution,  runs 
through  all   his  plays. 

I  enjoyed  this  ride  to  Aberdeen  more  than  any  thing  we 
had  seen  yet,  the  country  is  so  wild  and  singular.  In  the 
afternoon  we  came  in  sight  of  the  German  Ocean.  The  free, 
bracing  air  from  the  sea,  and  the  thought  that  it  actually  was 
the  German  Ocean,  and  that  over  the  other  side  was  Norway, 
within  a  day's  sail  of  us,  gave  it  a  strange,  romantic  charm. 

"  Suppose  we  just  run  over  to  Norway,"  said  one  of  us ; 
and  then  came  the  idea,  what  we  should  do  if  we  got  over 
there,  seeing  none  of  us  understood  Norse. 

The  whole  coast  along  here  is  wild  and  rock-bound ;  occa- 
sionally long  points  jut  into  the  sea ;  the  IdIuc  waves  sparkle 
and  dash  against  them  in  little  jets  of  foam,  and  the  sea  birds 
dive  and  scream  around  them. 

On  one  of  these  points,  near  the  town  of  Stonehaven,  are 
still  seen  the  ruins  of  Dunottar  Castle,  bare  and  desolate, 
surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  restless,  moaning  waves;  a 
place  justly  held  accursed  as  the  scene  of  cruelties  to  the 
Covenanters,  so  appalling  and  brutal  as  to  make  the  blood 
boil  in  the  recital,  even  in  this  late  day. 

Durmg  the  reigns  of  Charles  and  James,  sovereigns  whom 


96        SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

Macaulay  justly  designates  as  Belial  and  Moloch,  this  castle 
was  the  state  i)rison  for  confining  this  noble  people.  In  the 
reign  of  Jaracs,  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  prisoners,  men, 
■women,  and  children,  for  refusing  the  oath  of  supremacy, 
were  arrested  at  their  firesides :  herded  together  like  cattle  ; 
driven  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  amid  the  gibes,  jeers,  and 
scoflTs  of  soldiers,  up  to  this  dreary  place,  and  thrust  promis- 
cuously into  a  dark  vault  in  this  castle  ;  almost  smothered  in 
filth  and  mire  ;  a  prey  to  pestilent  disease,  and  to  every  ma- 
lignity which  brutality  could  inflict,  they  died  here  unpitied. 
A  few  escaping  down  the  rocks  were  recaptured,  and  subjected 
to  shocking  tortures. 

A  moss-grown  gravestone,  in  the  parish  churchyard  of  Du- 
nottar,  shows  the  last  resting-place  of  these  sufferers. 

Walter  Scott,  who  visited  this  place,  says,  "  The  peasantry 
continue  to  attach  to  the  tombs  of  these  victims  an  honor  which 
they  do  not  render  to  more  splendid  mausoleums ;  and  when 
they  point  them  out  to  their  sons,  and  narrate  the  fate  of  the 
sufferers,  usually  conclude  by  exhorting  them  to  be  ready, 
should  the  times  call  for  it,  to  resist  to  the  death  in  the  cause 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  Hke  their  brave  forefathers." 

It  is  also  related  by  Gilfillan,  that  a  minister  from  this  vi- 
cinity, having  once  lost  his  way  in  travelling  through  a  distant 
part  of  Scotland,  vainly  solicited  the  services  of  a  guide  for 
some  time,  all  being  engaged  in  peat-cutting ;  at  last  one  of 
the  farmers,  some  of  whose  ancestors  had  been  included  among 
the  sufferers,  discovering  that  he  came  from  this  vicinity,  had 
Rcon  the  gravestones,  and  could  repeat  the  inscriptions,  was 
willing  to  give  up  half  a  day's  work  to  guide  him  on  his 
way. 

It  is  well  that  such  spots  should  be  venerated  as  sacred 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS.  97 

ehrines  among  the  descendants  of  the  Covenanters,  to  whom 
Scotland  owes  what  she  is,  and  all  she  may  become. 

It  was  here  that  Scott  first  became  acquainted  with  Robert 
Paterson,  the  original  of  Old  Mortality. 

Leaving  Stonehaven  we  passed,  on  a  rising  ground  a  little 
to  our  left,  the  house  of  the  celebrated  Barclay  of  Ury.  It 
remains  very  much  in  its  ancient  condition,  surrounded  by  a 
low  stone  wall,  like  the  old  fortified  houses  of  Scotland. 

Barclay  of  Ury  was  an  old  and  distinguished  soldier,  who 
had  fought  under  Gustavus  Adolphus  in  Germany,  and  one 
of  the  earliest  converts  to  the  principles  of  the  Friends  in 
Scotland.  As  a  Quaker,  he  became  an  object  of  hatred  and 
abuse  at  the  hands  of  the  magistracy  and  populace ;  but  he 
endured  all  these  insults  and  injuries  with  the  greatest  pa- 
tience and  nobleness  of  soul. 

"  I  find  more  satisfaction,"  he  said,  "  as  well  as  honor,  in 
being  thus  insulted  for  my  religious  prmciples,  than  when,  a 
few  years  ago,  it  was  usual  for  the  magistrates,  as  I  passed 
the  city  of  Aberdeen,  to  meet  me  on  the  road  and  conduct  me 
to  public  entertainment  in  their  hall,  and  then  escort  me  out 
again,  to  gain  my  favor." 

Wliittier  has  celebrated  this  incident  in  his  beautiful  ballad, 
called  "  Barclay  of  Ury."  The  son  of  this  Barclay  was  the 
author  of  that  Apology  which  bears  liis  name,  and  is  still  a 
standard  work  among  the  Friends.  The  estate  is  still  pos- 
sessed by  his  descendants. 

A  little  farther  along  towards  Aberdeen,  IVIr.  S.  seemed  to 
amuse  himself  very  much  with  the  idea,  that  we  were  comin<r 
near  to  Dugald  Dalgetty's  estate  of  Drumthwacket,  an  histor- 
ical remembrance  which  I  take  to  be  somewhat  apocryphal. 
It  was .  towards  the  close  of  the  afternoon  that  we  found 

VOL.  I.  9 


98  SUNNY   MEMOKIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

ourselves  crossing  the  Dee,  in  view  of  Aberdeen.  My  spirits 
were  wondci-fully  elated :  the  grand  sea  scenery  and  fine 
bracing  air ;  the  noble,  distant  view  of  the  city,  rising  with 
its  harbor  and  shipj^ing,  all  filled  me  with  delight.  Besides 
which  the  Dee  had  been  enchanted  for  me  from  my  child- 
hood, by  a  wild  old  ballad  which  I  used  to  hear  sung  to  a 
Scottish  tune,  equally  wild  and  pathetic.  I  repeated  it  to 
C ,  and  will  now  to  you, 

"  The  moon  had  climbed  the  highest  hill 
That  rises  o'er  the  banks  of  Dee, 
And  from  her  farthest  summit  poured 
Her  silver  light  o'er  tower  and  tree,  — 

When  Mary  laid  her  do^vn  to  sleep, 

Her  thoughts  on  Sandy  far  at  sea. 
And  soft  and  low  a  voice  she  heard, 

Saying,  '  Mary,  weep  no  more  for  me.* 

She  from  her  pillow  gently  raised 
Her  head,  to  see  who  there  might  be ; 

She  saw  young  Sandy  shivering  stand. 
With  pallid  check  and  hollow  ee. 

• 

*  0  Mary  dear,  cold  is  my  clay ; 

It  lies  beneath  the  stormy  sea ; 

The  storm  is  past,  and  I'm  at  rest ; 

So,  Mary,  weep  no  more  for  me.' 

Loud  crew  the  cock ;  the  vision  fled ; 

No  more  young  Sandy  could  she  see ; 
But  soft  a  parting  whisper  said, 

*  Sweet  Mary,  weep  no  more  for  me.'  " 

I  never  saw  these  lines  in  print  any  where  ;  I  never  knew 
wlio  wrote  them  ;  I  had  only  heard  them  sung  at  the  fireside 
when  a  child,  to  a  tune  as  dreamy  and  sweet  as  themselves ; 
but  they  rose  upon  me  like  an  enchantment,  as  I  crossed  the 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        99 

Dee,  in  view  of  that  very  German  Ocean,  famed  for  its  storms 
and  shipwrecks. 

In  this  propitious  state,  disposed  to  be  pleased  with  every 
thing,  our  hearts  responded  warmly  to  the  greetings  of  the 
many  friends  who  were  waiting  for  us  at  the  station  house. 

The  lord  provost  received  us  into  his  carriage,  and  as  we 
drove  along,  pointed  out  to  us  the  various  objects  of  interest 
in  the  beautiful  town.  Among  other  things,  a  fine  old  bridge 
across  the  Dee  attracted  our  particular  attention. 

"We  were  conducted  to  the  house  of  JNIr.  Cruikshank,  a 
Friend,  and  found  waiting  for  us  there  the  thoughtful  hospi- 
taHty  which  we  had  ever  experienced  in  all  our  stopping- 
places.  A  snug  little  quiet  supper  was  laid  out  upon  the 
table,  of  wliich  we  partook  in  haste,  as  we  were  informed  that 
the  assembly  at  the  hall  were  waiting  to  receive  us. 

There  arrived,  we  found  the  hall  crowded,  and  with  difficul- 
ty made  our  way  to  the  platform.  Whether  owing  to  the 
stimulating  effect  of  the  air  from  the  ocean,  or  to  the  com- 
paratively social  aspect  of  the  scene,  or  perhaps  to  both,  cer- 
tain it  is,  that  we  enjoyed  the  meeting  with  great  zest.  I 
was  surrounded  on  the  stage  with  blooming  young  ladies, 
one  of  whom  put  into  my  hands  a  beautiful  bouquet,  some 
flowers  of  which  I  have  now  dried  in  my  album.  The  re- 
freshment tables  were  adorned  with  some  exquisite  wax 
flowers,  the  work,  as  I  was  afterwards  told,  of  a  young  lady 
in  the  place.  One  of  the  designs  especially  interested  me. 
It  was  a  group  of  water  lilies  resting  on  a  mirror,  which  gave 
them  the  appearance  of  growing  in  the  water. 

We  had  some  very  animated  speaking,  in  which  the  speak- 
ers contrived  to  blend  enthusiastic  admiration  and  love  for 
America  with  detestation  of  slavery. 


100  SUNNY    MKMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

All  the  afternoon  tlie  beautiful  coast  had  reminded  nic  of 
the  State  of  Maine,  and  the  genius  of  the  meeting  confirmed 
the  association.  They  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  plain,  genial, 
strong,  warm-hearted  peoi)le,  like  those  of  Maine. 

One  of  the  speakers  concluded  his  address  by  saying  that 
John  Dull  and  Brother  Jonathan,  with  Paddy  and  Sandy 
Scott,  should  they  clasp  hands  together,  might  stand  against 
the  world ;  which  sentiment  was  responded  to  with  thunders 
of  applause. 

It  is  because  America,  like  Scotland,  has  stood  for  right 
against  oppression,  that  the  Scotch  love  and  sympathize  with 
her.  For  this  reason  do  they  feel  it  as  something  taken  from 
the  strengtli  of  a  common  cause,  when  America  sides  with 
injustice  and  oppression.  The  children  of  the  Covenant  and 
the  children  of  the  Puritans  are  of  one  blood. 

They  presented  an  offering  in  a  beautiful  embroidered 
purse,  and  after  much  shaking  of  hands  we  went  home,  and 
sat  down  to  the  supper  table,  for  a  little  more  chat,  before 
going  to  bed.  The  next  morning,  —  as  we  had  only  till  noon 
to  stay  in  Aberdeen,  —  our  friends,  the  lord  provost,  and  JNIr. 
Leslie,  the  architect,  came  immediately  after  breakfast  to  show 
us  the  place. 

The  town  of  Aberdeen  is  a  very  fine  one,  and  owes  much 
of  its  beauty  to  the  light-colored  granite  of  which  most  of  the 
houses  are  built.  It  has  broad,  clean,  beautiful  streets,  and 
many  very  curious  and  interesting  public  buildings.  The 
town  exhibits  that  union  of  the  hoary  past  with  the  bustlmg 
present  which  is  characteristic  of  the  old  world. 

It  has  two  parts,  the  old  and  the  new,  as  unlike  as  L' Al- 
legro and  Penseroso  —  the  new,  clean,  and  modern  ;  the  old, 
mossy  and  dreamy.     The  old  town  is  called  Alton,  and  has 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  101 

venerable  houses,  standing,  many  of  them,  in  ancient  gardens. 
And  here  rises  the  pecuUar,  old,  gray  cathedral.  These  Scotch 
cathedrals  have  a  sort  of  stubbed  appearance,  and  look  like 
the  expression  in  stone  of  defiant,  invincible  resolution. 
This  is  of  primitive  granite,  in  the  same  heavy,  massive  style 
as  the  cathedral  of  Glasgow,  but  having  strong  individuali- 
ties of  its  o^vn.  , 

"Whoever  located  the  ecclesiastical  buildings  of  England 
and  Scotland  certainly  had  an  exquisite  perception  of  natural 
scenery;  for  one  notices  that  they  are  almost  invariably 
placed  on  just  that  point  of  the  landscape,  where  the  poet  or 
the  ai-tist  would  say  they  should  be.  These  cathedrals,  though 
all  having  a  general  similarity  of  design,  seem,  each  one,  to 
have  its  own  personality,  as  much  as  a  human  being.  Look- 
ing at  nineteen  of  them  is  no  compensation  to  you  for  omitting 
the  twentieth ;  there  will  certainly  be  something  new  and 
peculiar  in  that. 

This  Aberdeen  Cathedral,  or  Cathedral  of  St.  Machar,  is 
situated  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Don ;  one  of  those  beauti- 
ful amber-brown  rivers  that  color  the  stones  and  pebbles  at 
the  bottom  with  a  yellow  light,  such  as  one  sees  in  ancient 
pictures.  Old  trees  wave  and  rustle  around,  and  the  building 
itself,  though  a  part  of  it  has  fallen  into  ruins,  has,  in  many 
pai'ts,  a  wonderful  clearness  and  sharpness  of  outline.  I  can- 
not describe  these  things  to  you ;  architectural  terms  convey 
no  picture  to  the  mind.  I  can  only  tell  you  of  the  character 
and  impression  it  bears  —  a  character  of  strong,  unflinching 
endurance,  appropriately  reminding  one  of  the  Scotch  people, 
whom  Walter  Scott  compares  to  the  native  sycamore  of  their 
hills,  "  which  scorns  to  be  biased  in  its  mode  of  growth,"  even 
by  the  influence  of  the  prevailing  wind,  but  shooting  its 
9* 


102       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

branches  with  equal  boldness  in  every  direction,  shows  no 
weather  side  to  the  storm,  and  may  be  broken,  but  can  never 
be  bended." 

One  reason  for  the  sharpness  and  distinctness  of  the  archi- 
tectural preservation  of  this  cathedral  is  probably  that  close- 
ness of  texture  for  which  Aberdeen  granite  is  remarkable. 
It  bears  mai*ks  of  the  hand  of  violence  in  many  parts. 
The  images  of  saints  and  bishops,  which  lie  on  their  backs 
with  clasped  hands,  seem  to  have  been  wofuUy  maltreated  and 
despoiled,  in  the  fervor  of  those  days,  when  people  fondly 
thought  that  breaking  down  carved  work  was  getting  rid  of 
superstition.  These  granite  saints  and  bishops,  with  their 
mutilated  fingers  and  broken  noses,  seem  to  be  bearing  a 
silent,  melancholy  witness  against  that  disposition  in  human 
nature,  which,  instead  of  making  clean  the  cup  and  platter, 
breaks  them  altogether. 

The  roof  of  the  cathedral  is  a  splendid  specimen  of  carv- 
ing in  black  oak,  wrought  in  panels,  with  leaves  and  inscrip- 
tions in  ancient  text.  The  church  could  once  boast  in  other 
parts  (so  says  an  architectural  work)  a  profusion  of  carved 
woodwork  of  the  same  character,  which  must  have  greatly 
relieved  the  massive  plainness  of  the  interior. 

In  1 G49,  the  parish  minister  attacked  the  "  High  Altar," 
a  piece  of  the  most  splendid  workmanship  of  any  thing  of  the 
kind  in  Europe,  and  which  had  to  that  time  remained  invio- 
late ;  perhaps  from  the  insensible  influence  of  its  beauty.  It 
is  said  that  the  carpenter  employed  for  the  purpose  was  so 
struck  with  the  noble  workmanship,  that  he  refused  to  touch 
it  till  the  minister  took  the  hatchet  from  his  hand,  and  gave 
the  first  blow. 

These  men  did  not  consider  that  "  the  leprosy  lies  deep 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.      103 

within  "  and  that  when  human  nature  is  denied  beautiful  idols, 
it  will  go  after  ugly  ones.  There  has  been  just  as  unspiritual 
a  resting  in  coarse,  bare,  and  disagreeable  adjuncts  of  religion, 
as  in  beautiful  and  agreeable  ones ;  men  have  worshipped 
Juggernaut  as  pertinaciously  as  they  have  Venus  or  the 
Graces ;  so  that  the  good  divine  might  better  have  aimed  a 
sermon  at  the  heart  than  an  axe  at  the  altar. 

We  Imgered  a  long  time  around  here,  and  could  scarcely 
tear  ourselves  away.  We  paced  up  and  down  under  the  old 
trees,  looking  off  on  the  waters  of  the  Don,  listening  to  the  wav- 
ing branches,  and  falling  into  a  dreamy  state  of  mind,  thought 
what  if  it  were  six  hundred  years  ago !  and  we  were  pious 
simple  hearted  old  abbots  !  What  a  fine  place  that  would  be 
to  walk  up  and  down  at  eventide  or  on  a  Sabbath  mornin"-, 
reciting  the  penitential  psalms,  or  reading  St.  Augustine  ! 

I  cannot  get  over  the  feeling,  that  the  souls  of  the  dead  do 
somehow  connect  themselves  with  the  places  of  their  former 
habitation,  and  that  the  hush  and  thrill  of  spii'it,  which  we 
feel  in  them,  may  be  owing  to  the  overshadowing  presence  of 
the  invisible.  St.  Paul  says,  "  We  are  compassed  about  with 
a  great  cloud  of  witnesses."  How  can  they  be  t^itnesses,  if 
they  cannot  see  and  be  cognizant  ? 

We  left  the  place  by  a  winding  walk,  to  go  to  the  famous 
bridge  of  Balgounie,  another  di-eam-land  affair,  not  far  from 
here.  It  is  a  single  gray  stone  arch,  apparently  cut  from 
solid  rock,  that  spans  the  brown  rippling  waters,  where  wild, 
overhanging  banks,  shadowy  trees,  and  dipping  wild  flowers, 
all  conspire  to  make  a  romantic  picture.  This  bridge,  with 
the  river  and  scenery,  were  poetic  items  that  went,  with  other 
things,  to  form  the  sensitive  mind  of  Byron,  who  lived  here 
in  his  earher  days.     He  has  some  lines  about  it :  — 


104 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 


"  As  '  auld  lanpf  sjTie  '  brings  Scotland,  one  and  all, 

Scotch  plaids,  Scotch  snoods,  the  blue  hills  and  clear  streams, 
The  Dee,  the  Don,  Balgounie's  brig's  black  wall, 

All  my  boy-feelings,  all  my  gentler  dreams. 
Of  what  I  then  dreamt  clothed  in  their  own  pall, 

Like  Banquo's  offspring,  — floating  past  me  seems 
My  childhood,  in  this  childishness  of  mind  : 

I  care  not  —  'tis  a  glimpse  of  '  auld  lang  syne.'  *' 


This  old  bridge  lias  a  propliecy  connected  witli  it,  wliicli 
was  repeated  to  us,  and  you  shall  have  it  literatim :  — 

"  Brig  of  Balgounie,  black's  your  wa', 
"VVi"  a  wife's  ac  son,  and  a  marc's  a  foal, 
Doon  ye  shall  fa' !  " 


The  bridge  was  built  in  the  time  of  Robert  Bruce,  by  one 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       105 

Bisliop  Cheync,  of  whom  all  that  I  know  is,  that  he  evidently 
had  a  good  eye  for  the  picturesque. 

After  this  we  went  to  visit  King's  College.  The  tower 
of  it  is  surmounted  by  a  massive  stone  crown,  which  forms  a 
very  smgular  feature  in  every  view  of  Aberdeen,  and  is  said 
to  be  a  perfectly  unique  specimen  of  architecture.  This 
King's  College  is  very  old,  bemg  founded  also  by  a  bishop,  as 
far  back  as  the  fifteenth  century.  It  has  an  exquisitely  carved 
roof,  and  carved  oaken  seats.  We  went  through  the  library, 
the  hall,  and  the  museum.  Certainly,  the  old,  dark  archi- 
tecture of  these  universities  must  tend  to  form  a  different 
style  of  mind  from  our  plain  matter-of-fact  college  buildings. 

Here  in  Aberdeen  is  the  veritable  Marischal  College,  so 
often  quoted  by  Dugald  Dalgetty.  "We  had  not  tune  to  go 
and  see  it,  but  I  can  assure  you  on  the  authority  of  the  guide 
book,  that  it  is  a  magnificent  specimen  of  architecture. 

After  this,  that  we  might  not  neglect  the  present  in  our  zeal 
for  the  past,  we  went  to  the  marble  yards,  where  they  work 
the  Aberdeen  granite.  This  granite,  of  which  we  have  many 
specimens  in  America,  is  of  two  kinds,  one  being  gray,  the 
other  of  a  reddish  hue.  It  seems  to  differ  from  other  granite 
in  the  fineness  and  closeness  of  its  grain,  which  enables  it  to 
receive  the  most  brilliant  conceivable  pohsh.  I  saw  some 
superb  columns  of  the  red  species,  which  were  preparing  to 
go  over  the  Baltic  to  Riga,  for  an  Exchange ;  and  a  sepul- 
chral monument,  which  was  gomg  to  New  York.  All  was 
busy  here,  sawing,  chippmg,  pohshing ;  as  different  a  scene 
from  the  gray  old  cathedral  as  could  be  imagined.  The  gran- 
ite finds  its  way,  I  suppose,  to  countries  which  the  old,  unso- 
phisticated abbots  never  dreamed  of. 

One  of  the  friends  who  had  accompanied  us  during  the 


106  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OP    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

mominjT  tour  was  the  celebrated  architeet,  Mr.  Leslie,  whose 
conversation  gave  us  all  mueli  enjoyment.  He  and  Mrs. 
Leslie  gave  me  a  most  invalualTle  jiarting  present,  to  wit, 
four  volumes  of  engravings,  representing  the  "  Baronial  and 
Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  Scotland,"  illustrated  by  Billings. 
I  cannot  tell  you  what  a  mine  of  pleasure  it  has  been  to 
me.  It  is  a  proof  edition,  and  the  engravings  are  so  vivid, 
and  the  drawing  so  fine,  that  it  is  nearly  as  good  as  Reality. 
It  might  almost  save  one  the  trouble  of  a  pilgrimage.  I  con- 
sider the  book  a  kind  of  national  poem ;  for  architecture  is, 
in  its  nature,  poetry  ;  especially  in  these  old  countries,  where 
it  weaves  into  itself  a  nation's  history,  and  gives  literally  the 
image  and  body  of  the  times. 


SUNNY  MEMOKIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       107 


LETTER    VII. 

Dear  Cousin  :  — 

Wliile  here  in  Aberdeen  I  received  a  veryodd  letter,  so 
peculiar  and  curious  that  I  will  give  you  the  benefit  of  it. 
The  author  appears  to  be,  in  his  way,  a  kind  of  Christopher 
in  his  cave,  or  Timon  of  Athens.  I  omit  some  parts  which 
are  more  expressive  than  agreeable.     It  is  dated 

"Stonehaven,  N.  B.,  Kincardineshire,     ") 
57°N.W.    This  21st  April,  1853.  > 

"To  'Mrs.  Harriet  B.  Stowe:  — 

"  My  dear  Madam  :  By  the  time  that  this  gets  your  length, 
the  fouk  o'  Aberdeen  will  be  shewin  ye  off  as  a  rare  animal,  just 
arrived  frae  America ;  the  wife  that  writ  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin. 

"  I  wad  like  to  see  ye  mysel,  but  I  canna  win  for  want  o' 
siller,  and  as  I  thought  ye  might  be  writin  a  buke  about  the 
Scotch  when  ye  get  hame,  I  hae  just  sent  ye  this  bit  auld  key 
to  Sawney's  Cabin. 

"  Well  then,  dinna  forget  to  speer  at  the  Aberdeenians  if  it 
be  true  they  ance  kidnappet  little  laddies,  and  selt  them  for 
slaves  ;  that  they  dang  down  the  Quaker's  kirkyard  dyke,  and 
houket  up  dead  Quakers  out  o'  their  graves ;  that  the  young 
boys  at  the  college  printed  a  buke,  and  maist  naebody  wad 
buy  it,  and  they  cam  out  to  Ury,  near  Stonehaven,  and  took 
twelve  stots  frae  Davie  Barclay  to  pay  the  printer. 

"Dinna  forget  to  speer  at ,  if  it  was  true  that  he 

flogget  three  laddies  in  the  beginning  o'  last  year,  for  the  three 
following  crimes :  first,  for  the  crime  of  being  bom  of  puir, 


108       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

ignorant  parents  ;  second,  for  the  crime  of  being  left  in  igno- 
rance ;  and,  third,  for  the  crime  of  having  nothing  to  eat. 

"  Dinna  be  teUing  when  ye  gang  hame  that  yc  rode  on  the 
Aberdeen  railway,  made  by  a  hundred  men,  who  were  all  in 
the  Stonehaven  j^rison  for  drunkenness  ;  nor  above  five  could 
sign  their  names. 

"If  the  Scotch  kill  ye  with  ower  feeding  and  making  speeches, 
be  sure  to  send  this  hame  to  tell  your  fouk,  that  it  was  Queen 
Elizabeth  who  made  the  first  European  law  to  buy  and  sell 
human  beings  like  brute  beasts.  She  was  England's  glory  as 
a  Protestant,  and  Scotland's  shame  as  the  murderer  of  their 
bonnie  Mary.  The  auld  hag  skulked  away  like  a  coward  in 
the  hour  of  death.  Mary,  on  the  other  hand,  with  calmness 
and  dignity,  repeated  a  Latin  prayer  to  the  Great  Spirit  and 
Author  of  her  being,  and  calmly  resigned  herself  into  the 
hands  of  her  murderers. 

"In  the  capital  of  her  ancient  kingdom,  when  ye  are  in  our 
country,  there  are  eight  hundred  women  sent  to  prison  every 
year  for  the  first  time.  Of  fifteen  thousand  prisoners  ex- 
amined in  Scotland  in  the  yeai-  1845,  eight  thousand  could 
not  write  at  all,  and  three  thousand  could  not  read. 

"  At  present  there  are  about  twenty  thousand  prisoners  in 
Scotland.  In  Stonehaven  they  are  fed  at  about  seventeen 
pounds  each,  annually.  The  honest  poor,  outside  the  prison 
upon  the  parish  roll,  are  fed  at  the  rate  of  five  farthings  a  day, 
or  two  pounds  a  year.  The  employment  of  tlie  prisoners  is 
grinding  the  wind,  we  ca'  it;  turning  the  crank,  in  plain 
English.  Tlie  latest  improvement  is  the  streekin  board ;  it's 
a  whig  improvement  o'  Lord  Jonnic  Russell's. 

"  I  ken  brawly  ye  are  a  curious  "vvife,  and  would  like  to  ken 
a'  about  the  Scotch  bodies.  Weel,  they  are  a  gay,  ignorant, 
proud,   diTinken   pack  ;  they   manage   to   pay  ilka   year   for 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS.  109 

whuskey  one  million  three  Imndred  and  forty-eight  thousand 
pounds. 

"  But  then  their  piety,  their  piety ;  weel,  let's  luke  at  it ; 
hing  it  up  by  the  nape  o'  the  neck,  and  turn  it  round  atween 
our  fmger  and  thumb  on  all  sides. 

"Is  there  one  school  in  all  Scotland  where  the  helpless, 
homeless  poor  are  fed  and  clothed  at  the  public  expense  ? 
None. 

"  Is  there  a  hame  in  all  Scotland  for  the  cleanly  but  sick 
servant  maid  to  go  till,  until  health  be  restored  ?  Alas  !  there 
is  none. 

"  Is  there  a  school  in  all  Scotland  for  training  ladies  in  the 
higher  branches  of  learning?  None.  AYhat  then  is  there 
for  the  women  of  Scotland  ? 

"  A  weel,  be  sure  and  try  a  cupful  of  Scottish  Kail  Broase. 
See,  and  get  a  sup  Scotch  lang  milk. 

"  Hand  this  bit  line  yout  to  the  Rev.  JMr. .     Tell  him 

to  skore  out  fats  nae  true. 

"  God  bless  you,  and  set  you  safe  hame,  is  the  prayer  of 
the  old  Scotch  Bachelor." 

I  think  you  will  agree  with  me,  that  the  old  testifying  spirit 
does  not  seem  to  have  died  out  in  Scotland,  and  that  the  back- 
slidings  and  abominations  of  the  land  do  not  want  for  able 
exponents. 

As  the  indictment  runs  back  to  the  time  of  Charles  IL,  to 
the  persecutions  of  the  Quakers  in  the  days  of  Barclay  of 
Ury,  and  brings  up  against  the  most  modern  offences,  one  can- 
not but  feel  that  there  are  the  most  savory  indications  in  it  of 
Scotch  thoroughness. 

VOL.   L  10 


110  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OE    EOREIGN    LANDS. 

Some  of  the  questions  which  he  wishes  to  have  me  ^^speer^ 
at  Aberdeen,  I  fear,  alas !  would  bring  but  an  indifferent  an- 
swer even  in  Boston,  which  gives  a  high  school  only  to  boys, 
and  allows  none  to  girls.  On  one  point,  it  seems  to  me,  my 
friend  might  !<peer  himself  to  advantage,  and  that  is  the  very 
commendable  efforts  which  are  being  made  now  in  Edinburgh 
and  Aberdeen  both,  in  the  way  of  educating  the  cliildren  of 
the  poor. 

As  this  is  one  of  the  subjects  which  are  particularly  on  my 
mind,  and  as  all  information  which  we  can  get  upon  this  sub- 
ject is  peculiarly  valuable  to  us  in  view  of  commencing  efforts 
in  America,  I  will  abridge  for  you  an  account  of  the  indus- 
trial schools  of  Aberdeen,  published  by  the  society  for  im- 
proving the  condition  of  the  laboring  classes,  in  their  paper 
called  the  Laborer's  Friend. 

In  June,  1841,  it  was  ascertained  that  in  Aberdeen  there 
were  two  hundred  and  eighty  children,  under  fourteen  years 
of  age,  who  maintained  themselves  professedly  by  begging, 
but  partly  by  theft.  The  first  effort  to  better  the  moral  con- 
(htion  of  these  children  brought  with  it  the  discovery  which 
our  philanthropists  made  in  New  York,  that  in  order  to  do 
good  to  a  starving  child,  we  must  begin  by  feeding  him  ;  that 
we  must  gain  his  confidence  by  showing  him  a  benevolence 
which  he  can  understand,  and  thus  proceed  gradually  to  the 
reformation  of  liis  spiritual  nature. 

In  1841,  therefore,  some  benevolent  individuals  in  Aber- 
deen hired  rooms  and  a  teacher,  and  gave  out  notice  among 
these  poor  children  that  they  could  there  be  supplied  with 
food,  work,  and  instruction.  The  general  arrangement  of  the 
day  was  four  hours  of  lessons,  five  hours  of  work,  and  three 
substantial  meals.     These  meals  were  employed  as  the  incite- 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       Ill 

ment  to  the  lessons  and  the  work,  since  it  was  made  an  indis- 
pensable condition  to  each  meal  that  the  child  should  have 
been  present  at  the  work  or  lessons  which  preceded  it.  This 
arrangement  worked  admirably  ;  so  that  they  reported  that  the 
attendance  was  more  regular  than  at  ordinary  schools. 

The  whole  produce  of  the  work  of  the  cliildren  goes  to- 
wards defraying  the  expense  of  the  establishment,  thus  effect- 
ing several  important  purposes,  —  reducing  the  expense  of  the 
school,  and  teacliing  the  cliildren,  practically,  the  value  of  their 
industry,  —  in  procuring  for  them  food  and  instruction,  and 
fostering  in  them,  from  the  first,  a  sound  principle  of  self-de- 
pendence ;  inasmuch  as  they  know,  from  the  moment  of  their 
entering  school,  that  they  give,  or  pay,  in  return  for  their  food 
and  education,  all  the  work  they  are  capable  of  performing. 

The  institution  did  not  profess  to  clothe  the  children ;  but  by 
the  kindness  of  benevolent  persons  who  take  an  interest  in  the 
school,  there  is  generally  a  stock  of  old  clothes  on  hand,  from 
which  the  most  destitute  are  supphed. 

The  following  is  the  daily  routine  of  the  school :  The  schol- 
ars assemble  every  morning  at  seven  in  summer,  and  eight  in 
winter.  The  school  is  opened  by  reading  the  Scriptures, 
praise,  and  prayer,  and  rehgious  instruction  suited  to  their 
years  ;  after  which  there  is  a  lesson  in  geography,  or  the  more 
ordinary  facts  of  natural  liistory,  taught  by  means  of  maps 
and  prints  distributed  along  the  walls  of  the  school  room  ;  two 
days  in  the  week  they  have  a  singing  lesson ;  at  nine  they 
breakfast  on  porridge  and  milk,  and  have  half  an  hour  of  play ; 
at  ten  they  again  assemble  in  school,  and  are  employed  at  work 
till  two.  At  two  o'clock  they  dine ;  usually  on  broth,  with 
coarse  wheaten  bread,  but  occasionally  on  potatoes  and  ox-head 
soup,  &:c.     The  diet  is  very  plain,  but  nutritious  and  abundant, 


112  BUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

and  appears  to  suit  the  tastes  of  the  pupils  completely.  It  is 
a  j)k'asing  sight  to  see  them  assembled,  with  their  youthful 
ai)pctites  sharpened  by  four  hours'  work,  joining,  at  least  with 
outward  decorum,  in  asking  God's  blessing  on  the  food  he  haa 
provided  for  them,  and  most  promptly  availing  themselves  of 
the  signal  given  to  commence  their  dinner. 

From  dinner  till  three,  the  time  is  spent  in  exercise  or  rec- 
reation, occasionally  working  in  the  garden  ;  from  three  to  four, 
they  work  either  in  the  garden  or  in  the  work  room  ;  from  four 
till  seven,  they  are  instructed  in  reading,  writing,  and  arith- 
metic. At  seven  they  have  supper  of  pon-idge  and  milk ;  and 
after  short  rehgious  exercises,  are  dismissed  to  their  homes  at 
eight. 

On  Saturday,  they  do  not  return  to  school  after  dinner  ;  and 
occasionally,  as  a  reward  of  good  behavior,  they  accompany 
the  teacher  in  a  walk  to  the  country  or  the  sea  coast. 

On  Sunday,  they  assemble  at  half  past  eight  for  devotion  ; 
breakfast  at  nine;  attend  worship  in  the  school  room;  after 
which  they  dine,  and  return  home,  so  as,  if  possible,  to  go  witli 
their  parents  to  church  in  the  afternoon. 

At  five  they  again  meet,  and  have  Sdbhath  school  instruc- 
tion in  Bible  and  catechism ;  at  seven,  supper  j  and  after  even- 
ing worship  are  dismissed. 

From  this  detail  it  will  be  seen  that  these  schools  differ  from 
common  day  schools.  In  day  schools,  neither  food  nor  em- 
ployment is  provided  —  teaching  only  is  proposed,  with  a  very 
little  moral  training. 

The  principle  on  which  the  industrial  school  proceeds,  of 
giving  employment  along  with  instruction  —  especially  as  that 
employment  is  designed  at  the  same  time,  if  possible,  to  teach 
a  trade  which  may  be  afterwards  available  —  appears  of  the 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       113 

highi>«5t  value.     It  is  a  practical  discipline  —  a  moral  training, 
the  importance  of  which  cannot  be  over-estimated. 

In  a  common  school,  too,  there  can  be  but  little  moral  train- 
ing, however  efficiently  the  school  may  be  conducted,  just  be- 
cause there  is  little  opportunity  given  for  the  development  and 
display  of  individual  character.  The  whole  management  of 
a  school  requires  that  the  pupils  be  as  speedily  as  possible 
brought  to  a  uniform  outward  conduct,  and  thus  an  appearance 
of  good  behavior  and  propriety  is  produced  within  the  school 
room,  which  is  too  often  cast  aside  and  forgotten  the  moment 
the  pupils  j)ass  the  thi'eshold. 

The  remark  was  once  made  by  an  experienced  teacher,  that 
for  the  purposes  of  moral  training  he  valued  more  the  time  he 
spent  with  his  pupils  at  their  games,  than  that  which  was  spent 
in  the  school  room. 

The  pecuniary  value  of  the  work  done  in  these  schools  is 
not  so  great  as  was  at  first  hoped,  from  the  difficulty  of  procur- 
ing employment  such  as  children  so  neglected  could  perform 
to  advantage.  The  real  value  of  the  thing,  however,  they 
consider  lies  in  the  habits  of  industry  and  the  sense  of  inde 
pendence  thus  imparted. 

At  the  outset  the  managers  of  the  school  regretted  extreme- 
ly their  want  of  ability  to  furnish  lodgings  to  the  children.  It 
was  thought  and  said  that  the  homes,  to  which  the  majority  of 
them  were  obhged  to  return  after  school  hours,  would  deprave 
faster  than  any  instruction  could  reform.  Fortunately  it  was 
impossible,  at  the  time,  to  provide  lodguig  for  the  cliildren,  and 
thus  an  experience  was  wrought  out  most  valuable  to  all  fu- 
ture laborers  in  this  field. 

The  managers  report  that  after  six  years'  trial,  the  instances 
where  evil  results  from  the  children  returning  home,  are  very 
10* 


114      SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

rare ;  while  there  have  been  most  cheering  instances  of  sub- 
stantial good  being  carried  l)y  the  child,  from  the  school, 
through  the  whole  iiimily.  There  ai'e  few  parents,  especially 
mothers,  so  abandoned  as  not  to  be  touched  by  kindness  shown 
to  their  offspring.  It  is  the  direct  road  to  the  mother's  heart. 
Show  kindness  to  her  child,  and  she  is  prepared  at  once  to 
second  your  efforts  on  its  behalf.  She  must  be  debased,  in- 
deed, who  will  not  listen  to  her  cliild  repeating  its  text  from 
the  Bible,  or  singing  a  verse  of  its  infant  hymn  ;  and  by  tliis 
means  the  first  seeds  of  a  new  life  may  be,  and  have  been, 
planted  in  the  parent's  heart. 

In  cases  where  parents  are  so  utterly  depraved  as  to  make 
it  entirely  hopeless  to  reform  the  cliild  at  home,  they  have 
found  it  the  best  course  to  board  them,  two  or  three  together, 
in  respectable  families ;  the  influences  of  the  family  state  be- 
ing held  to  be  essential. 

The  success  which  attended  the  boys'  school  of  industry 
soon  led  to  the  establishment  of  one  for  girls,  conducted  on  the 
same  principles ;  and  it  is  stated  that  the  change  wrought 
among  poor,  outcast  girls,  by  these  means,  was  even  more  strik- 
ing and  gi'atifying  than  among  the  boys. 

After  these  schools  had  been  some  time  in  operation,  it  was 
discovered  that  there  were  still  multitudes  of  depraved  chil- 
di*en  who  could  not  or  did  not  avail  themselves  of  these  priv- 
ileges. It  was  determined  by  the  authorities  of  the  city  of 
Aberdeen,  in  conformity  with  the  Scripture  injunction,  to  go 
out  into  the  highways  and  hedges  and  compel  them  to  come  in. 
Under  the  authority  of  the  police  act  they  proposed  to  lay  hold 
of  the  whole  of  the  juvenile  vagrants,  and  provide  them  with 
food  and  instruction. 

Instructions  were  given  to  the  police,  on  the  19th  of  May, 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOltElGN    LANDS.  115 

1845,  to  convey  every  child  found  begging  to  tlie  soup  kitchen ; 
and,  in  the  course  of  the  day,  seventy-five  were  collected,  of  whom 
four  only  could  read.  The  scene  which  ensued  is  indescriba- 
ble. Confusion  and  uproar,  quarrelling  and  fighting,  language 
of  the  most  hatefid  description,  and  the  most  determined  re- 
belUon  against  every  thing  like  order  and  regularity,  gave  the 
gentlemen  engaged  in  the  undertaking  of  taming  them  the 
hardest  day's  work  they  had  ever  encountered.  Still,  they  so 
far  prevailed,  that,  by  evening,  their  authority  was  compar- 
atively estabhshed.  "When  dismissed,  the  cliildren  were  in- 
vited to  return  next  day  —  informed  that,  of  course,  they  could 
do  so  or  not,  as  they  pleased,  and  that,  if  they  did,  they  should 
be  fed  and  instructed,  but  that,  whether  they  came  or  not,  beg- 
ging would  not  be  tolerated.  Next  day,  the  greater  part  re- 
turned. The  managers  felt  that  they  had  triumphed,  and  that 
a  great  field  of  moral  usefulness  was  now  secured  to  them. 

The  class  who  were  brought  to  this  school  were  far  below 
those  who  attend  the  other  two  institutions  —  low  as  they  ap- 
peared to  be  when  the  schools  were  first  opened ;  and  the 
scenes  of  filth,  disease,  and  misery,  exhibited  even  in  the  school 
itself,  were  such  as  would  speedily  have  driven  from  the  work 
all  merely  sentimental  philanthropists.  Those  who  undertake 
this  work  must  have  sound,  strong  principle  to  influence  them, 
else  they  will  soon  turn  from  it  in  disgust. 

The  school  went  on  prosperously;  it  soon  excited  pubHc 
interest ;  funds  flowed  in ;  and,  what  is  most  gratifying,  the 
working  classes  took  a  lively  interest  in  it ;  and  while  the 
wealthier  inhabitants  of  Aberdeen  contributed  during  the  year 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  for  its  support,  the  work- 
ing men  collected,  and  handed  over  to  the  committee,  no  less 
tlian  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 


116       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

Very  few  children  in  attendance  at  the  industrial  schools 
have  been  convicted  of  any  oflence.  The  regularity  of  attend- 
ance is  owing  to  the  children  receiving  their  food  in  the  school ; 
and  the  school  houi-s  being  from  seven  in  the  morning  till 
seven  at  night,  there  is  little  opportunity  for  the  commission 
of  crime. 

The  experience  acquired  in  these  schools,  and  the  connec- 
tion which  most  of  the  managers  had  with  the  criminal  courts 
of  the  city,  led  to  the  opening  of  a  fourth  institution  —  the 
Child's  Asylum.  Acting  from  day  to  day  as  judges,  these 
gentlemen  had  occasionally  cases  brought  before  them  which 
gave  them  extreme  pain.  Children  —  nay,  infants  —  were 
brought  up  on  criminal  charges :  the  facts  alleged  against 
them  were  incontestably  proved ;  and  yet,  in  a  moral  sense, 
they  could  scarcely  be  held  guilty,  because,  in  truth,  they  did 
not  know  that  they  had  done  wrong. 

There  were,  however,  great  practical  difliculties  in  the  way, 
which  could  only  be  got  over  indirectly.  The  magistrate  could 
adjourn  the  case,  directing  the  child  to  be  cared  for  in  the 
mean  time,  and  inquiry  could  be  made  as  to  his  family  and  re- 
lations, as  to  his  character,  and  the  prospect  of  his  doing  better 
in  future  ;  and  he  could  either  be  restored  to  his  relations,  or 
boarded  in  the  house  of  refuge,  or  with  a  family,  and  placed 
at  one  or  other  of  the  industrial  schools  ;  the  charge  of  crime 
still  remaining  against  him,  to  be  made  use  of  at  once  if  he 
deserted  school  and  returned  to  evil  courses. 

The  great  advantage  sought  here  was  to  avoid  stamping  the 
child  for  life  with  the  character  of  a  convicted  felon  before  he 
deserved  it.  Once  thus  brand  a  child  in  this  country,  and  it 
is  all  but  impossible  for  him  ever,  by  future  good  conduct,  to 
efface  the  mask.     How  careful  ouji-ht  the  law  and  those  who 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.       117 

adininlster  it  to  be,  not  raslily  to  impress  this  stigma  on  the 
neglected  child ! 

The  Child's  Asylum  was  opened  on  the  4th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1846 ;  and  as  a  proof  of  the  efficiency  of  the  industrial 
schools  in  checking  juvenile  vagrancy  and  dehnquency,  it  may 
be  noticed  that  nearly  a  week  elapsed  before  a  child  was 
brought  to  the  asylum.  When  a  child  is  apprehended  by  the 
police  for  begging,  or  other  misdemeanor,  he  is  conveyed 
to  this  institution,  and  his  case  is  investigated;  for  which 
purpose  the  committee  meets  daily.  If  the  child  be  of  des- 
titute parents,  he  is  sent  to  one  of  the  industrial  schools  ;  if 
the  child  of  a  worthless,  but  not  needy,  parent,  effi)rts  are 
made  to  induce  the  parent  to  fulfil  his  duty,  and  exercise  his 
authority  in  restraining  the  evil  habits  of  the  child,  by  send- 
ing him  to  school,  or  otherwise  removing  him  out  of  the  way 
of  temptation. 

From  the  4th  of  December  up  to  the  18th  of  March,  forty- 
seven  cases,  several  of  them  more  than  once,  had  been  brought 
up  and  carefully  inquired  into.  Most  of  them  were  disposed 
of  in  the  manner  now  stated ;  but  a  few  were  either  claimed 
by,  or  remitted  to,  the  procurator  fiscal,  as  proper  objects  of 
punishment. 

It  is  premature  to  say  much  of  an  institution  which  has  ex- 
isted for  so  short  a  time  ;  but  if  the  principle  on  which  it  is 
founded  be  as  correct  and  sound  as  it  appears,  it  must  prosper 
and  do  good.  There  is,  however,  one  great  practical  difficulty, 
which  can  only  be  removed  by  legislative  enactment :  there 
is  no  power  at  present  to  detain  the  children  in  the  Asylum,  or 
to  force  them  to  attend  the  schools  to  which  they  have  been 
sent. 

Such  have  been  the  rise  and  progi'ess  of  the  four  industrial 


118       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

scliools  in  Aberdeen,  including,  as  one  of  them,  tlie  Child's 
Asylum. 

All  the  schools  are  on  the  most  catholic  basis,  the  only 
qusilification  for  membership  being  a  subscription  of  a  few 
shillings  a  year;  and  the  doors  are  open  to  all  who  require 
admission,  without  distinction  of  sect  or  party* 

The  experience,  then,  of  Aberdeen  appears  to  demonstrate 
the  possibility  of  reclaiming  even  the  most  abject  and  de- 
praved of  our  juvenile  population  at  a  very  moderate  expense. 
The  schools  have  been  so  long  in  operation,  that,  if  there  had 
been  any  thing  erroneous  in  the  principles  or  the  management 
of  them,  it  must  ere  now  have  appeared  ;  and  if  all  the  results 
have  been  encouraging,  why  should  not  the  system  be  extend- 
ed and  established  in  other  places  ?  There  is  nothing  in  it 
which  may  not  easily  be  copied  in  any  town  or  village  of  our 
land  where  it  is  required. 

I  cannot  help  adding  to  this  account  some  directions,  which 
a  very  experienced  teacher  in  these  schools  gives  to  those  who 
are  desirous  of  undertaking  this  enterprise. 

"  1.  The  school  rooms  and  appurtenances  ought  to  be  of  the 
plainest  and  most  unpretending  description.  This  is  perfectly 
consistent  with  the  most  scrupulous  cleanliness  and  complete 
ventilation.  In  like  manner,  the  food  should  be  wholesome, 
substantial,  and  abundant,  but  very  plain  —  such  as  the  boys 
or  girls  may  soon  be  able  to  attain,  or  even  surpass,  by  their 
own  exertions  after  leaving  school. 

"  2.  The  teachers  must  ever  be  of  the  best  description,  pa- 
tient and  persevering,  not  easily  discouraged,  and  thoroughly 
versed  in  whatever  branch  they  may  have  to  teach  ;  and, 
above  all  things,  they  must  be  persons  of  solid  and  undoubted 
piety  —  for  without  this  quahjfication,  all  others  will,  in  tlio 
end,  prove  worthless  and  unavailing. 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS.  119 

"  Throughout  the  day,  the  children  must  ever  be  kept  in  mind 
that,  after  all,  religion  is  '  the  one  thing  needful ; '  that  the 
soul  is  of  more  value  than  the  body. 

"3.  TJie  schools  inust  he  hept  of  moderate  size:  from  their 
nature  this  is  absolutely  necessary.  It  is  a  task  of  the  great- 
est difficulty  to  manage,  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  a  large  school 
of  children,  even  of  the  higher  classes,  with  all  the  advantages 
of  careful  home-training  and  superintendence  ;  but  with  indus- 
trial schools  it  is  folly  to  attempt  it. 

"  From  eighty  to  one  hundred  scholars  is  the  largest  number 
that  ever  should  be  gathered  into  one  institution ;  when  they 
exceed  this,  let  additional  schools  be  opened ;  in  other  words, 
increase  the  number,  not  the  size,  of  the  schools.  They  should 
be  put  down  in  the  localities  most  convenient  for  the  scholars, 
so  that  distance  may  be  no  bar  to  attendance  ;  and  if  circum- 
stances permit,  a  garden,  either  at  the  school  or  at  no  very 
great  distance,  will  be  of  great  utility. 

"4.  As  soon  as  practicable,  the  children  should  be  taught, 
and  kept  steadily  at,  some  trade  or  other,  by  which  they  may 
earn  their  subsistence  on  leaving  school ;  for  the  longer  they 
have  pursued  this  particular  occupation  at  school,  the  more 
easily  will  they  be  able  thereby  to  support  themselves  after- 
wards. 

"  As  to  commencing  schools  in  new  places,  the  best  way  of 
proceeding  is  for  a  few  persons,  who  are  of  one  mind  on  the 
subject,  to  unite,  advance  from  their  o^n  purses,  or  raise  among 
their  friends,  the  small  sum  necessary  at  the  outset,  get  their 
teacher,  open  their  school,  and  collect  a  few  scholars,  gradually 
extend  the  number,  and  when  they  have  made  some  progress, 
then  tell  the  public  what  they  have  been  doing ;  ask  them  to 
come  and  see  ;  and,  if  they  approve,  to  give  their  money  and 


120       SDNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

support.  Public  meetings  and  eloquent  speeches  arc  excel- 
lent things  for  exciting  interest  and  raising  funds,  but  they  are 
of  no  use  in  carrying  on  the  every-day  work  of  the  school. 

"  Let  not  the  managers  expect  impossibilities.  There  will  be 
crime  and  distress  in  spite  of  industrial  schools  ;  but  they  may 
be  immensely  reduced ;  and  let  no  one  be  discouraged  by  the 
occasional  lapse  into  a  crime  of  a  promising  pupil.  Such 
things  must  be  while  sin  reigns  in  the  heart  of  man  ;  let  them 
only  be  thereby  stirred  up  to  greater  and  more  earnest  exer- 
tion in  their  work. 

*'  Let  them  be  most  careful  as  to  the  parties  whom  they  admit 
to  act  along  with  them  ;  for  unless  all  the  laborers  be  of  one 
heart  and  mind,  divisions  must  ensue,  and  the  whole  work  be 
marred. 

"  It  is  most  desirable  that  as  many  persons  as  possible  of 
wealth  and  influence  should  lend  their  aid  in  supporting  these 
institutions.  Patrons  and  subscribers  should  be  of  fill  ranks 
and  denominations  ;  but  they  must  beware  of  interfering  with 
the  actual  dally  working  of  the  school,  which  ought  to  be  left 
to  the  unfettered  energies  of  those  who,  by  their  zeal,  their 
activity,  their  sterling  principle,  and  their  successful  adminis- 
tration, have  proved  themselves  every  way  competent  to  the 
ta^k  they  have  undertaken. 

"  If  the  managers  wish  to  carry  out  the  good  effect  of  their 
schools  to  the  utmost,  then  they  will  not  confine  their  labor  to 
the  scholars  ;  thei/  will,  through  them,  get  access  to  the  parents. 
The  good  which  the  ladies  of  the  Aberdeen  Female  School 
have  ah'cady  thus  accomplished  is  not  to  be  told  ;  but  let  none 
try  this  work  who  do  not  experimentally  know  the  value  of  the 
immortal  soul." 

Industrial  schools  seem  to  open  a  bright  prospect  to  the 


SUNNY    MEMOllIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS.  121 

hitherto  neglected  outcasts  of  our  cities  ;  for  them  a  new  era 
seems  to  be  commencing :  they  are  no  longer  to  be  restrained 
and  kept  in  order  by  the  iron  bars  of  the  prison  house,  and 
taught  morality  by  the  scourge  of  the  executioner.  They  are 
now  to  be  treated  as  reasonable  and  hnmortal  beings;  and 
may  He  who  is  the  God  of  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich  give 
his  effectual  blessing  with  them,  wherever  they  may  be  estab- 
lished, so  that  they  may  be  a  source  of  joy  and  rejoicing  to  all 
ranks  of  society. 

Such  is  the  resuU  of  the  "speerings"  recommended  by  my 
worthy  correspondent.  I  have  given  them  much  at  leno-th. 
because  they  are  useful  to  us  in  the  much  needed  reforms 
commencing  in  our  cities. 

As  to  the  appaUing  statements  about  intemperance,  I  grieve 
to  say  that  they  are  confirmed  by  much  which  must  meet  the 
eye  even  of  the  passing  stranger.  I  have  said  before  how 
often  the  natural  features  of  this  country  reminded  me  of  the 
State  of  Maine.  Would  that  the  beneficent  law  which  has 
removed,  to  so  great  an  extent,  pauperism  and  crime  from 
that  noble  state  might  also  be  given  to  Scotland. 

I  suppose  that  the  efforts  for  the  benefit  of  the  poorer 
classes  in  this  city  might  be  paralleled  by  efforts  of  a  similar 
nature  in  the  other  cities  of  Scotland,  particularly  in  Edin- 
burgh, where  great  exertions  have  been  making ;  but  I  hap- 
pened to  have  a  more  full  account  of  these  in  Aberdeen,  and 
so  give  them  as  specimens  of  the  whole.  I  must  say,  how- 
ever, that  in  no  city  which  I  visited  in  Scotland  did  I  see 
such  neatness,  order,  and  thoroughness,  as  in  Aberdeen ;  and 
in  none  did  there  appear  to  be  more  gratifying  evidences  of 
prosperity  and  comfort  among  that  class  which  one  sees  along 
the  streets  and  thorouorhfares. 

VOL.  I.  11 


122       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

About  two  o'clock  we  started  from  Aberdeen  among  crowds 
of  friends,  to  wliom  we  bade  farewell  with  real  regret. 

Our  way  at  first  lay  over  the  course  of  yesterday,  along 
that  beautiful  sea  coast  —  beautiful  to  the  eye,  but  perilous  to 
the  navigator.  Tliey  told  us  that  the  winds  and  waves  raged 
here  with  an  awful  power.  Not  long  before  we  came,  the 
Duke  of  Sutherland,  an  iron  steamer,  was  wrecked  upon  this 
shore.  In  one  respect  the  coast  of  Maine  has  decidedly  the 
advantage  over  this,  and,  indeed,  of  every  other  sea  coast 
which  I  have  ever  visited ;  and  that  is  in  the  richness  of  the 
wooding,  which  veils  its  picturesque  points  and  capes  in  luxu- 
riant foldings  of  verdure. 

At  Stonehaven  station,  where  we  stopped  a  few  minutes, 
there  was  quite  a  gathering  of  the  inhabitants  to  exchange 
greetings,  and  afterwards  at  successive  stations  along  the  road, 
many  a  kindly  face  and  voice  made  our  journey  a  pleasant  one. 

When  we  got  into  old  Dundee  it  seemed  all  alive  with  wel- 
come. We  went  in  the  carriage  with  the  lord  provost,  ISlr. 
Tlioms,  to  his  residence,  where  a  party  had  been  waiting  din- 
ner for  us  some  time. 

The  meeting  in  the  evening  was  in  a  large  church,  densely 
crowded,  and  conducted  much  as  the  others  had  been.  When 
they  came  to  sing  the  closing  hymn,  I  hoped  they  would  sing 
Dundee ;  but  they  did  not,  and  I  fear  in  Scotland,  as  else- 
where, the  characteristic  national  melodies  are  giving  way 
before  more  modern  ones. 

On  the  stage  we  were  surrounded  by  many  very  pleasant 
people,  with  whom,  between  the  services,  we  talked  without 
knowing  their  names.  The  venerable  Dr.  Dick,  the  author 
of  the  Christian  Philosopher  and  the  Philosophy  of  the 
Future    State,  was   there.     Gilfillan  was  also   present,  and 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  123 

spoke.  Together  with  their  contribution  to  the  Scottish  offer- 
ing, they  presented  me  with  quite  a  collection  of  the  works 
of  different  writers  of  Dundee,  beautifully  bound. 

We  came  away  before  the  exercises  of  the  evening  were 
finished. 

The  next  morning  we  had  quite  a  large  breakfast  party, 
mostly  ministers  and  their  wives.  Good  old  Dr.  Dick  was 
there,  and  I  had  an  introduction  to  him,  and  had  pleasure  in 
speaking  to  him  of  the  interest  with  which  his  works  have 
been  read  in  America.  Of  this  fact  I  was  told  that  he  had 
received  more  substantial  assurance  in  a  comfortable  sum  of 
money  subscribed  and  remitted  to  him  by  his  American  read- 
ers.    If  this  be  so  it  is  a  most  commendable  movement. 

What  a  pity  it  was,  during  Scott's  jQnancial  embarrassments, 
that  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  America,  who  had  re- 
ceived pleasure  from  his  writings,  had  not  subscribed  some- 
thing towards  an  offering  justly  due  to  him  ! 

Our  host,  Mr.  Thoms,  was  one  of  the  first  to  republish  in 
Scotland  Professor  Stuart's  Letters  to  Dr.  Channing,  with  a 
preface  of  his  own.  He  showed  me  Professor  Stuart's  letter 
in  reply,  and  seemed  rather  amused  that  the  professor  directed 
it  to  the  Rev.  James  Thom,  supposing,  of  course,  that  so  much 
theological  zeal  could  not  inhere  in  a  layman.  He  also  showed 
us  many  autograph  letters  of  their  former  pastor,  Mr.  Cheyne, 
whose  interesting  memoirs  have  excited  a  good  deal  of  atten- 
tion in  some  circles  in  America. 

After  breakfast  the  ladies  of  the  Dundee  Antislavery  Soci- 
ety called,  and  then  the  lord  provost  took  us  in  his  carriage  to 
see  the  city.  Dundee  is  the  third  town  of  Scotland  in  popula- 
tion, and  a  place  of  great  antiquity.  Its  population  in  1851 
was  seventy-eight  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-nine,  and 


124  SUNNY    MKMORIKS    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS 

the  manufactures  consist  principally  of  yarns,  linen,  witli  canvas 
and  cotton  bagging,  great  quantities  of  which  are  exported  to 
France  and  North  and  South  America.  There  are  about 
sixty  spinning  mills  and  factories  in  the  town  and  neighbor- 
hood, besides  several  iron  founderies  and  manufactories  of 
steam  engines  and  machinery. 

Dundee  has  always  been  a  stronghold  of  liberty  and  the 
reformed  religion.  It  is  said  that  in  the  grammar  school  of 
this  town  WilHam  Wallace  was  educated ;  and  here  an  illustri- 
ous confrateraity  of  noblemen  and  gentry  was  formed,  who 
joined  to  resist  the  tyranny  of  England. 

Here  Wishart  preached  in  the  beginning  of  the  reformation, 
preparatory  to  his  martyrdom.  Plere  flourished  some  rude 
historical  writers,  who  devoted  their  talents  to  the  downfall 
of  Popery.  Singularly  enough,  they  accomplished  this  in 
l)art  by  dramatic  representations,  in  which  the  vices  and  ab- 
surdities of  the  Papal  establishment  were  ridiculed  before 
the  people.  Among  others,  one  James  Wedderburn  and  his 
brother,  John,  vicar  of  Dundee,  are  mentioned  as  having  ex- 
celled in  this  kind  of  composition.  The  same  authors  com- 
posed books  of  song,  denominated  "  Gude  and  Godly  Ballads," 
wherein  the  frauds  and  deceits  of  Popery  were  fully  pointed 
out.  A  third  brother  of  the  family,  being  a  musical  genius, 
it  is  said,  "  turned  the  times  and  tenor  of  many  profane  songs 
into  godly  songs  and  hymns,  whereby  he  stirred  up  the  af- 
fections of  many,"  which  tunes  were  called  the  Psalms  of 
Dundee.  Here,  perhaps,  was  the  origin  of  "  Dundee's  wild 
warbling  measures." 

The  conjoint  forces  of  tragedy,  comedy,  ballads,  and  music, 
thus  brought  to  bear  on  the  popular  mind,  was  very  great. 

Dundee  has  been  a  great  suiferer  during  the  various  civil 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       125 

commotions  in  Scotland.  In  the  time  of  Charles  I.  it  stood 
out  for  the  solemn  league  and  covenant,  for  which  crime  the 
Earl  of  Montrose  was  sent  against  it,  who  took  and  burned  it. 
It  is  said  that  he  called  Dundee  a  most  seditious  town,  the 
securest  haunt  and  receptacle  of  rebels,  and  a  place  that  had 
contributed  as  much  as  any  other  to  the  rebellion.  Yet  after- 
wards, when  Montrose  was  led  a  captive  through  Dundee,  the 
historian  observes,  "  It  is  remarkable  of  the  town  of  Dundee, 
in  which  he  lodged  one  night,  that  though  it  had  suffered  more 
by  his  army  than  any  town  else  within  the  kingdom,  yet  were 
they,  amongst  all  the  rest,  so  far  from  exulting  over  him,  that 
the  whole  town  testified  a  great  deal  of  sorrow  for  his  woful 
condition ;  and  there  was  he  likewise  furnished  with  clothes 
suitable  to  his  birth  and  person." 

This  town  of  Dundee  was  stormed  by  Monk  and  the  forces 
of  Parliament  during  the  time  of  the  commonwealth,  because 
they  had  sheltered  the  fugitive  Charles  II.,  and  granted  him 
money.  When  taken  by  Monk,  he  committed  a  great  many 
barbarities. 

It  has  also  been  once  visited  by  the  plague,  and  once  with 
a  seven  years'  dearth  or  famine. 

Most  of  these  particulars  I  found  in  a  History  of  Dundee, 
which  formed  one  of  the  books  presented  to  me. 

The  town  is  beautifully  situated  on  the  Firth  of  Tay,  which 
here  spreads  its  waters,  and  the  quantity  of  shipping  indicates 
commercial  prosperity. 

I  was  shown  no  abbeys  or  cathedrals,  either  because  none 
ever  existed,  or  because  they  were  destroyed  when  the  town 
was  fired. 

In  our  rides  about  tne  city,  the  local  recollections  that  our 
friends  seemed  to  recur  to  with  as  much  interest  as  any,  were 

11* 


12G       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OE  EOKEIGN  LANDS. 

those  connected  with  tlie  queen's  visit  to  Dundee,  in  1844. 
The  ?\)oi  where  she  landed  has  been  commemorated  by  the 
erection  of  a  superb  triumplial  arch  in  stone.  The  provost 
said  some  of  the  people  were  quite  astonished  at  the  plainness 
of  the  queen's  dress,  having  looked  for  something  very  daz- 
zling and  overpowering  from  a  queen.  They  could  scarcely 
believe  their  eyes,  when  they  saw  her  riding  by  in  a  plain 
bonnet,  and  enveloped  in  a  simple  shepherd's  plaid. 

The  queen  is  exceedingly  popular  in  Scotland,  doubtless  in 
part  because  she  heartily  appreciated  the  beauty  of  the  coun- 
try, and  the  strong  and  interesting  traits  of  the  people.  She 
has  a  country  residence  at  Balmorrow,  where  she  spends  a 
part  of  every  year ;  and  the  impression  seems  to  prevail  among 
her  Scottish  subjects,  that  she  never  appears  to  feel  herself 
more  happy  or  more  at  home  than  in  this  her  Highland  dwell- 
inj?.  The  le";end  is,  that  here  she  delicrhts  to  throw  off  tlie 
restraints  of  royalty ;  to  go  about  plainly  dressed,  like  a  pri- 
vate individual ;  to  visit  in  the  cottages  of  the  poor  ;  to  inter- 
est herself  in  the  instruction  of  the  children  ;  and  to  initiate 
the  future  heir  of  England  into  that  practical  love  of  the  peo- 
ple which  is  the  best  qualification  for  a  ruler. 

I  repeat  to  you  the  things  which  I  hear  floating  of  the 
public  characters  of  England,  and  you  can  attach  what  degree 
of  credence  you  may  think  proper.  As  a  general  rule  in  this 
censorious  world,  I  think  it  safe  to  suppose  that  the  good 
which  is  commonly  reported  of  public  characters,  if  not  true 
in  the  letter  of  its  details,  is  at  least  so  in  its  general  spirit. 
The  stories  which  are  told  about  distinguished  people  gener- 
ally run  in  a  channel  coincident  with  the  facts  of  their  char- 
acter. On  the  other  hand,  with  regard  to  evil  reports,  it  is 
gafe  always  to  allow  something  for  the  natural  propensity  to 


8UNNT  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       127 

detraction  and  slander,  Avhich  is  one  of  the  most  undoubted 
facts  of  human  nature  in  all  lands. 

We  left  Dundee  at  two  o'clock,  by  cars,  for  Edinburgh.  In 
the  evening  we  attended  another  soiree  of  the  working  men 
of  Edinburgh.  As  it  was  similar  in  all  respects  to  the  one  at 
Glasgow,  I  will  not  dwell  upon  it,  further  than  to  say  how 
gratifying  to  me,  in  every  respect,  are  occasions  in  which 
working  men,  as  a  class,  stand  out  before  the  public.  They  are 
to  form,  more  and  more,  a  new  power  in  society,  greater  than 
the  old  power  of  helmet  and  sword,  and  I  rejoice  in  every 
indication  that  they  are  learning  to  understand  themselves. 

We  have  received  letters  from  the  working  men,  both  in 
Dundee  and  Glasgow,  desiring  our  return  to  attend  soirees  in 
those  cities.  Nothing  could  give  us  greater  pleasure,  had  we 
time  and  strength.  No  class  of  men  are  more  vitally  inter- 
ested in  the  conflict  of  freedom  against  slavery  than  working 
men.  The  principle  upon  which  slavery  is  founded  touches 
every  interest  of  theirs.  If  it  be  right  that  one  half  of  the 
community  should  deprive  the  other  half  of  education,  of  all 
opportunities  to  rise  in  the  world,  of  all  property  rights  and 
all  family  ties,  merely  to  make  them  more  convenient  tools 
for  their  profit  and  luxury,  then  every  injustice  and  extortion, 
which  oppresses  the^  laboring  man  in  any  country,  can  be 
equally  defended. 


128  SUNNY    MEMUiaio    ur    lOKlOleiN    LANDb. 


LETTER    VIII. 

Dear  Aunt  E.  :  — 

You  wanted  us  to  write  about  our  visit  to  Melrose ;  so  here 
you  have  it. 

On  Tuesday  morning  Mr.  S.  and  C had  agreed  to  go 

back  to  Glasgow  for  the  purpose  of  speaking  at  a  temperance 
meeting,  and  as  we  were  restricted  for  time,  we  were  obliged 
to  make  the  visit  to  Melrose  in  their  absence,  much  to  the 

regret  of  us  all.     G thought  we  would  make  a  little  quiet 

run  out  in  the  cars  by  ourselves,  while  Mr.  S.  and  C 

were  gone  back  to  Glasgow. 

It  was  one  of  those  soft,  showery,  April  days,  misty  and 
mystical,  now  weeping  and  now  shining,  that  we  found  our- 
selves whirled  by  the  cars  through  this  enchanted  ground  of 
Scotland.  Almost  every  name  we  heard  spoken  along  the 
railroad,  every  stream  we  passed,  every  point  we  looked  at, 
recalled  some  line  of  Walter  Scott's  poetry,  or  some  event  of 
history.  The  thought  that  he  was  gone  forever,  whose  genius 
had  given  the  charm  to  all,  seemed  to  settle  itself  down  like 
a  melancholy  mist.  To  how  little  purpose  seemed  the  few, 
short  years  of  his  life,  compared  with  the  capabilities  of 
such  a  soul !  Brilliant  as  his  success  had  been,  how  was  it 
passed  like  a  dream  !  It  seemed  sad  to  think  that  he  had  not 
only  passed  away  himself,  but  that  almost  the  whole  family 
and  friendly  circle  had  passed  with  him  —  not  a  son  left  to 
bear  his  name ! 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       129 

Here  we  were  in  the  region  of  tlie  Ettrick,  the  Yarrow,  and 
the  Tweed,  I  opened  the  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  and,  as 
if  by  instinct,  the  first  lines  my  eye  fell  upon  were  these :  — 

**  Call  it  not  vain  :  they  do  not  err 
Who  say,  that  when  the  poet  dies, 
Mute  nature  mourns  her  worshipper, 

And  celebrates  his  obsequies  ; 
Who  say,  tall  cliff  and  cavern  lone 
For  the  departed  bard  make  moan  ; 
That  mountains  weep  in  crystal  rill ; 
That  flowers  in  tears  of  balm  distil ; 
Through  his  loved  groves  that  breezes  sigh, 
And  oaks,  in  deeper  groan,  reply  ; 
And  rivers  teach  their  rushing  wave 
To  murmur  dirges  round  his  grave." 

"  Melrose ! "  said  the  loud  voice  of  the  conductor ;  and  start- 
ing, I  looked  up  and  saw  quite  a  flourishing  village,  in  the 
midst  of  which  rose  the  old,  gray,  mouldering  walls  of  the 
abbey.  Now,  this  was  somewhat  of  a  disappointment  to  me. 
I  had  been  somehow  expecting  to  find  the  building  standing 
alone  in  the  middle  of  a  great  heath,  far  from  all  abodes  of 
men,  and  with  no  companions  more  hilarious  than  the  bwls. 
However,  it  was  no  use  complaining ;  the  fact  was,  there  was 
a  village,  and  what  was  more,  a  hotel,  and  to  this  hotel  we 
were  to  go  to  get  a  guide  for  the  places  we  were  to  visit; 
for  it  was  understood  that  we  were  to  "  do "  Melrose,  Dry- 
burgh,  and  Abbotsford,  all  in  one  day.  There  was  no  time 
for  sentiment ;  it  was  a  business  affair,  that  must  be  looked  in 
the  face  promptly,  if  we  meant  to  get  through.  Ejaculations 
and  quotations  of  poetry  could,  of  course,  be  thrown  in,  as 
William  of  Deloraine  pattered  his  prayers,  while  riding. 

We  all  alighted   at  a  very  comfortable  hotel,  and  were 


100 


SUNNY   31EM0RIi:S    OF    FORKIGN    LANDS. 


'"J»5:W\'«,L^  ^ 


East  Window  of  Melrose  Abbey. 


ushered   into   as   snug  a  little  parlor  as   one's   heart   could 
desire. 

The  next  thing  was  to  hire  a  coachman  to  take  us,  in  the 
rain,  —  for  the  mist  had  now  swelled  into  a  rain,  —  through  the 
whole  appropriate  round.  I  stood  hj  and  heard  names  which 
I  had  never  heard  before,  except  in  song,  brought  into  view 
in  their  commercial  relations ;  so  much  for  Abbotsford  ;  and 
so  much  for  Drjburgh  ;  and  then,  if  we  would  like  to  throw 
in  Thomas  the  KhjTnicr's  Tower,  why,  that  would  be  some- 
thing extra. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       131 

"  Thomas  the  Rhymer  ?  "  said  one  of  the  party,  not  exactly 
posted  up.  "  Was  he  any  thing  remarkable  ?  Well,  is  it 
worth  while  to  go  to  his  tower  ?  It  will  cost  something  extra, 
and  take  more  time." 

Weighed  in  such  a  sacrilegious  balance,  Thomas  was  found 
wanting,  of  course :  the  idea  of  driving  three  or  four  miles 
farther  to  see  an  old  tower,  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  a 
man  who  is  supposed  to  have  existed  and  to  have  been 
carried  off  by  a  supposititious  Queen  of  the  Fairies  into  Elf- 
land,  was  too  absurd  for  reasonable  people ;  in  fact,  I  made 
believe  myself  that  I  did  not  care  much  about  it,  particularly 
as  the  landlady  remarked,  that  if  we  did  not  get  home  by  five 
o'clock  "  the  chops  might  be  spoiled." 

As  we  all  were  packed  into  a  tight  coach,  the  rain  still 
pouring,  I  began  to  wish  mute  Nature  would  not  be  quite  so 
energetic  in  distilling  her  tears.  A  few  sprinkling  showers, 
or  a  graceful  wreath  of  mist,  might  be  all  very  well ;  but  a 
steady,  driving  rain,  that  obliged  us  to  shut  up  the  carriage 
windows,  and  coated  them  with  mist  so  that  we  could  not 
look  out,  why,  I  say  it  is  enough  to  put  out  the  fire  of  senti- 
ment in  any  heart.  We  might  as  well  have  been  rolled  up 
in  a  bundle  and  carried  through  the  country,  for  all  the  seeing 
it  was  possible  to  do  under  such  circumstances.  It,  therefore, 
should  be  stated,  that  we  did  keep  bravely  up  in  our  poetic 
zeal,  which  kindly  Mrs.  W.  also  reenforced,  by  distributing 
certain  very  delicate  sandwiches  to  support  the  outer  man. 

At  length,  the  coach  stopped  at  the  entrance  of  Abbotsford 
grounds,  where  there  was  a  cottage,  out  of  wliich,  due  notice 
being  given,  came  a  trim,  little  old  woman  in  a  black  gown, 
with  pattens  on ;  she  put  up  her  umbrella,  and  we  all  put  up 
ours  ;  the  rain  poured  harder  than  ever  as  we  went  dripping 


132  SUNNY    MEMOIilES    OF    FOKEKJN    LANDS. 

up  the  gravel  walk,  looking  much,  I  inly  fancied,  like  a  set  of 
discomforted  fowls  fleeing  to  covert.  We  entered  the  great 
court  yard,  surrounded  with  a  high  wall,  into  which  were 
built  sundry  fragments  of  curious  architecture  that  happened 
to  please  the  poet's  fancy. 

I  had  at  the  moment,  spite  of  the  rain,  very  vividly  in  my 
mind  Washington  Irving's  graceful  account  of  his  visit  to 
Abbotsford  while  this  house  was  yet  building,  and  the  picture 
which  he  has  given  of  Walter  Scott  sitting  before  his  door, 
humorously  descanting  on  various  fragments  of  sculpture, 
which  lay  scattered  about,  and  which  he  intended  to  immor- 
talize by  incorporating  into  his  new  dwelling. 

Viewed  as  a  mere  speculation,  or,  for  aught  I  know,  as  an 
architectural  effort,  this  building  may,  perhaps,  be  counted  as 
a  mistake  and  a  failure.  I  observe,  that  it  is  quite  customaiy 
to  speak  of  it,  among  some,  as  a  pity  that  he  ever  undertook 
it.  But  viewed  as  a  development  of  his  inner  life,  as  a  work- 
ing out  in  wood  and  stone  of  favorite  fancies  and  cherished 
ideas,  the  building  has  to  me  a  deep  interest.  The  gentle- 
hearted  poet  dehghted  himself  in  it ;  this  house  was  his  stone 
and  wood  poem,  as  irregular,  perhaps,  and  as  contrary  to  any 
established  rule,  as  his  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  but  still  wild 
and  poetic.  The  building  has  this  interest,  that  it  was  through- 
out his  own  conception,  thought,  and  choice ;  that  he  expressed 
himself  in  every  stone  that  was  laid,  and  made  it  a  kind  of 
shrine,  into  which  he  wove  all  his  treasures  of  antiquity,  and 
where  he  imitated,  from  the  beautiful,  old,  mouldering  ruins 
of  Scotland,  the  pai'ts  that  had  touched  him  most  deeply. 

The  walls  of  one  room  were  of  carved  oak  from  the  Dun- 
fermline Abbey  ;  the  ceiling  of  another  imitated  from  Roslin 
Castle  ;  here  a  fireplace  was  wrought  in  the  image  of  a  favor- 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.       133 

ite  niche  in  Melrose ;  and  there  the  ancient  pulpit  of  Erskine 
was  wrought  into  a  wall.  To  him,  doubtless,  every  object  in 
the  house  was  suggestive  of  poetic  fancies ;  every  carving  and 
bit  of  tracery  had  its  history,  and  was  as  truly  an  expression 
of  something  in  the  poet's  mind  as  a  verse  of  his  poetry. 

A  building  wrought  out  in  this  way,  and  growing  up  like  a 
bank  of  coral,  may  very  possibly  violate  all  the  proprieties  of 
criticism ;  it  may  possibly,  too,  violate  one's  ideas  of  mere 
housewifery  utility ;  but  by  none  of  these  rules  ought  such  a 
building  to  be  judged.  "We  should  look  at  it  rather  as  the 
poet's  endeavor  to  render  outward  and  visible  the  dream  land 
of  liis  thoughts,  and  to  create  for  himself  a  refuge  from  the 
cold,  dull  realities  of  life,  in  an  architectural  romance. 

These  were  the  thoughts  which  gave  interest  to  the  scene 
as  we  passed  through  the  porchway,  adorned  with  petrified 
stags'  horns,  into  the  long  entrance  hall  of  the  mansion. 
This  porch  was  copied  from  one  in  LinHthgow  palace.  One 
side  of  this  hall  was  lighted  by  windows  of  painted  glass. 
The  floor  was  of  black  and  white  marble  from  the  Hebrides. 
Round  the  whole  cornice  there  was  a  line  of  coats  armorial, 
richly  blazoned,  and  the  following  inscription  in  old  German 
text :  — 

"  These  be  the  coat  armories  of  the  clanns  and  chief  men 
of  name  wha  keepit  the  marchys  of  Scotland  in  the  old  tyme 
for  the  kynge.  Trewe  men  war  they  in  their  tyme,  and  in 
their  defence  God  them  defendyt." 

There  were  the  names  of  the  Douglases,  the  Elliots,  the 
Scotts,  the  Armstrongs,  and  others.  I  looked  at  this  arrange- 
ment with  interest,  because  I  knew  that  Scott  must  have  taken 
a  particular  delight  in  it. 

The  fireplace,  designed  from  a  niche  in  Melrose  Abbey,  also 

VOL.    I.  12 


134  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

in  this  room,  and  a  choice  bit  of  sculpture  it  is.  In  it  was  an 
old  f^rate,  which  had  its  history  also,  and  opposite  to  it  the 
boards  from  the  pulpit  of  Erskine  were  wrought  into  a  kind 
of  side  table,  or  something  which  served  that  purpose.  The 
spaces  between  the  windows  were  decorated  with  pieces  of 
armor,  crossed  swords,  and  stags'  horns,  each  one  of  which 
doubtless  had  its  history.  On  each  side  of  the  door,  at 
the  bottom  of  the  hall,  was  a  Gothic  shrine,  or  niche,  in  both 
of  which  stood  a  figure  in  complete  armor. 

Then  we  went  into  the  drawing  room  ;  a  lofty  saloon,  the 
woodwork  of  which  is  entirely  of  cedar,  richly  wrought ;  prob- 
ably another  of  the  author's  favorite  poetic  fancies.  It  is 
adorned  with  a  set  of  splendid  antique  ebony  furniture  ;  cab- 
inet, chairs,  and  piano  —  the  gift  of  George  IV.  to  the  poet. 

We  went  into  his  library  ;  a  magnificent  room,  on  which,  I 
suppose,  the  poet's  fancy  had  expended  itself  more  than  any 
other.  The  roof  is  of  carved  oak,  after  models  from  Roslin 
Castle.  Here,  in  a  niche,  is  a  marble  bust  of  Scott,  as  we  un- 
derstood a  present  from  Chantrey  to  the  poet ;  it  was  one  of 
the  best  and  most  animated  representations  of  him  I  ever  saw, 
and  very  much  superior  to  the  one  under  the  monument  in 
Edinburgh.  On  exjiressing  my  idea  to  this  effect,  I  found  I 
had  struck  upon  a  favorite  notion  of  the  good  woman  who 
showed  us  the  establishment ;  she  seemed  to  be  an  ancient 
servant  of  the  house,  and  appeared  to  entertain  a  regard  for 
the  old  laird  scarcely  less  than  idolatry.  -One  reason  why 
this  statue  is  superior  is,  that  it  represents  his  noble  forehead, 
which  the  Edinburgh  one  suffers  to  be  concealed  by  falling 
hair  :  to  cover  such  a  forehead  seems  scarcely  less  than  a  libel. 

The  whole  air  of  this  room  is  fanciful  and  picturesque  in 
the  extreme.     The  walls  are  entirely  filled  with  the  bookcases, 


SUNNY   MEJIORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS.  135 

there  being  about  twenty  thousand  volumes.  A  small  room 
opens  from  the  library,  which  was  Scott's  own  private  study. 
His  writing  table  stood  in  the  centre,  with  his  inkstand  on  it, 
and  before  it  a  large,  plain,  black  leather  arm  chair. 

In  a  glass  case,  I  think  in  this  room,  was  exhibited  the  suit 
of  clothes  he  last  wore  ;  a  blue  coat  with  large  metal  buttons, 
plaid  trousers,  and  broad-brimmed  hat.  Around  the  sides  of 
this  room  there  was  a  gallery  of  light  tracery  work  ;  a  flight  of 
stairs  led  up  to  it,  and  in  one  comer  of  it  was  a  door  which 
the  woman  said  led  to  the  poet's  bed  room.  One  seemed  to 
see  in  all  this  arrangement  how  snug,  and  cozy,  and  comfort- 
able the  poet  had  thus  ensconced  himself,  to  give  himself  up 
to  liis  beloved  labors  and  liis  poetic  dreams.  But  there  was 
a  cold  and  desolate  air  of  order  and  adjustment  about  it 
which  reminds  one  of  the  precise  and  cliilling  arrangements 
of  a  room  from  which  has  just  been  carried  out  a  corpse  ;  all 
is  silent  and  deserted. 

The  house  is  at  present  the  property  of  Scott's  only  sur- 
viving daughter,  whose  husband  has  assumed  the  name  of 
Scott.  We  could  not  learn  from  our  informant  whether  any 
of  the  family  was  in  the  house.  We  saw  only  the  rooms 
which  are  shown  to  visitors,  and  a  coldness,  Hke  that  of  death, 
seemed  to  strike  to  my  heart  from  their  chilly  soHtude. 

As  we  went  out  of  the  house  we  passed  another  company 
of  tourists  coming  in,  to  whom  we  heard  our  guide  commen- 
cing the  same  recitation,  "this  is,"  and  "this  is,"  &c.,  just  as 
she  had  done  to  us.  One  thmg  about  the  house  and  grounds 
had  disappointed  me ;  there  was  not  one  view  from  a  single 
wind«^  I  saw  that  was  worth  any  thing,  in  point  of  beauty  ; 
"  "  y  a  poet,  with  an  eye  for  the  beautiful,  could  have  located 
i^  house  in  such  an   indifferent  spot,  on   an   estate   where 


lo(3  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

SO  many  beautiful  sites  were  at  his  command,  I  could  not 
imagine. 

As  to  the  external  appearance  of  Abbotsford,  it  is  as  ir- 
regular as  can  -vvell  be  imagined.  There  are  gables,  and  pin- 
nacles, and  spires,  and  balconies,  and  buttresses  any  where 
and  every  where,  without  rhyme  or  reason  ;  for  wherever  the 
poet  wanted  a  balcony,  he  had  it ;  or  wherever  he  had  a  frag- 
ment of  carved  stone,  or  a  bit  of  historic  tracery,  to  put  in,  he 
made  a  shrine  for  it  forthwith,  without  asking  leave  of  any 
rules.  This  I  take  to  be  one  of  the  main  advantages  of  Gothic 
architecture ;  it  is  a  most  cathoHc  and  tolerant  system,  and 
any  kind  of  eccentricity  may  find  refuge  beneath  its  mantle. 

Here  and  there,  all  over  the  house,  are  stones  carved  with 
armorial  bearings  and  pious  inscriptions,  inserted  at  random 
wherever  the  poet  fancied.  Half  way  up  the  wall  in  one 
place  is  the  door  of  the  old  Tolbooth  at  Edinburgh,  with  the 
inscription  ovfer  it,  "  The  Lord  of  armeis  is  my  protector ; 
blissit  ar  thay  that  trust  in  the  Lord.     1575." 

A  doorway  at  the  west  end  of  the  house  is  composed  of 
stones  which  formed  the  portal  of  the  Tolbooth,  given  to  Sir 
"Walter  on  the  pulling  down  of  the  building  in  1817. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  house  is  a  rude  carving  of  a  sword 
with  the  words,  "Up  with  ye,  sutors  of  Selkyrke.  A.  D. 
1525."  Another  inscription,  on  the  same  side  of  the  house, 
runs  thus  :  — 

"  By  night,  by  day,  remember  ay 
The  goodness  of  y^  Lord ; 
And  thank  his  name,  whose  glorious  fame 
Is  spread  throughout  ye  world.  —A.  C.  M.  D.    1516." 

In  the  yard,  to  the  right  of  the  doorway  of  the  mansion, 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.       137 

we  saw  the  figure  of  Scott's  favorite  dog  Maida,  with  a  Latin 
inscription  — 

*'  MaidiB  marmorea  dormis  sub  imagine,  Maida, 
Ad  januam  domini :  sit  tibi  terra  levis." 

Which  in  our  less  expressive  Enghsh  we  might  render  — 

At  thy  lord's  door,  in  slumbers  light  and  blest, 
Maida,  beneath  this  marble  Maida,  rest : 
Light  lie  the  turf  upon  thy  gentle  breast. 

One  of  the  most  endearing  traits  of  Scott  was  that  sym- 
pathy and  harmony  which  always  existed  between  him  and 
the  brute  creation. 

Poor  Maida  seemed  cold  and  lonely,  washed  by  the  rain  in 
the  damp  grass  plat.  How  sad,  yet  how  expressive  is  the 
scriptural  phrase  for  indicating  death !  "  He  shall  return  to  his 
house  no  more,  neither  shall  his  place  know  him  any  more." 
And  this  is  what  all  our  homes  are  coming  to ;  our  buying,  our 
planting,  our  building,  our  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage, 
our  genial  firesides  and  dancing  children,  are  all  hke  so  many 
figures  passing  through  the  magic  lantern,  to  be  put  out  at  last 
in  death. 

The  grounds,  I  was  told,  are  full  of  beautiful  paths  and 
seats,  favorite  walks  and  lounges  of  the  poet ;  but  the  obdurate 
pertinacity  of  the  rain  compelled  us  to  choose  the  very  short- 
est path  possible  to  the  carriage.  I  picked  a  leaf  of  the  Por- 
tugal laurel,  which  I  send  you. 

Next  we  were  diuven  to  Dryburgh,  or  rather  to  the  banks 
of  the  Tweed,  where  a  ferryman,  with  a  small  skiff,  waits 
to  take  passengers  over. 

The  Tweed  is  a  clear,  rippling  river,  with  a  white,  pebbly 
12* 


138  SUNNY    MEMORIKS    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

bottom,  just  like  our  New  England  mountain  streams.  After 
we  landed  we  were  to  walk  to  the  Abbey.  Our  feet  were 
damp  and  cold,  and  our  boatman  invited  us  to  his  cottage.  I 
found  him  and  all  his  fxmily  warmly  interested  in  the  fortunes 
of  Uncle  Tom  and  his  friends,  and  for  his  sake  they  received 
me  as  a  long-expected  friend.  While  I  was  sitting  by  the 
inglesidc,  —  that  is,  a  coal  grate, — warming  my  feet,  I  fell  into 
conversation  with  my  host.  He  and  his  family,  I  noticed, 
spoke  English  more  than  Scotch  ;  he  was  an  inteUigent  young 
man,  in  appearance  and  style  of  mind  precisely  what  you 
might  expect  to  meet  in  a  cottage  in  Maine.  He  and  all  the 
household,  even  the  old  grandmother,  had  read  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin,  and  were  perfectly  familiar  with  all  its  details.  He 
told  me  that  it  had  been  universally  read  in  the  cottages  in 
the  vicinity.  I  judged  from  his  mode  of  speaJking,  that  he  and 
his  neighbors  were  in  the  habit  of  reading  a  great  deal.  I 
spoke  of  going  to  Diyburgh  to  see  the  grave  of  Scott,  and 
inquired  if  his  works  were  much  read  by  the  common  people. 
He  said  that  Scott  was  not  so  much  a  favorite  with  the  people 
as  Burns.  I  inquired  if  he  took  a  newspaper.  He  said  that 
the  newspapers  were  kept  at  so  high  a  price  that  working  men 
were  not  able  to  take  them  ;  sometimes  they  got  sight  of  them 
through  clubs,  or  by  borrowing.  How  different,  thought  I,  from 
America,  where  a  workingman  would  as  soon  think  of  going 
without  his  bread  as  without  his  newspaper ! 

The  cottages  of  these  laboring  people,  of  which  there  were 
a  whole  village  along  here,  are  mostly  of  stone,  thatched  with 
straw.  This  thatch  sometimes  gets  almost  entirely  grown 
over  with  green  moss.  Thus  moss-covered  was  the  roof 
of  the  cottage  where  we  stopped,  opposite  to  Dryburgh 
grounds. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.        133 

There  was  about  this  time  one  of  those  weeping  pauses  in 
the  showery  sky,  and  a  kind  of  thinning  and  edging  away 
of  the  clouds,  which  gave  hope  that  perhaps  the  sun  was 
going  to  look  out,  and  give  to  our  persevering  researches 
the  countenance  of  his  presence.  This  was  particularly  de- 
sirable, as  the  old  woman,  who  came  out  with  her  keys  to 
guide  us,  said  she  had  a  cold  and  a  cough :  we  begged  that 
she  would  not  trouble  herself  to  go  with  us  at  all.  The  fact 
is,  with  all  respect  to  nice  old  women,  and  the  worthy  race  of 
guides  in  general,  they  are  not  favorable  to  poetic  meditation. 
We  promised  to  be  very  good  if  she  would  let  us  have  the 
key,  and  lock  up  all  the  gates,  and  bring  it  back  ;  but  no,  she 
was  faithfulness  itself,  and  so  went  coughing  along  through  the 
di-ipping  and  drowned  grass  to  open  the  gates  for  us. 

This  Dryburgh  belongs  now  to  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  having 
been  bought  by  him  from  a  family  of  the  name  of  Halibur- 
ton,  ancestral  connections  of  Scott,  who,  in  his  autobiography, 
seems  to  lament  certain  mischances  of  fortune  which  pre- 
vented the  estate  from  coming  into  his  own  family,  and  gave 
them,  lie  said,  nothing  but  the  right  of  stretching  their  bones 
there.  It  seems  a  pity,  too,  because  the  possession  of  this 
rich,  poetic  ruin  would  have  been  a  mine  of  wealth  to  Scott, 
far  transcending  the  stateliest  of  modern  houses. 

Now,  if  you  do  not  remember  Scott's  poem  of  the  Eve  of  St. 
John,  you  ought  to  read  it  over ;  for  it  is,  I  think,  the  most 
spirited  of  all  his  ballads  ;  nothing  conceals  the  transcendent 
lustre  and  beauty  of  these  compositions,  but  the  splendor  of 
his  other  literary  productions.  Had  he  never  written  any 
thing. but  these,  they  would  have  made  him  a  name  as  a  poet. 
As  it  was,  I  found  the  fanciful  chime  of  the  cadences  in  this 
ballad  ringing  through  my  cars.     I  kept  saying  to  myself — 


140  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

"  The  Dr}burgh  bells  do  ring, 
And  the  white  monks  do  sing 
For  Sir  llichard  of  Coldinghame." 

And  as  I  was  •svandering   around  in  the  labyrinth  of   old, 
broken,  mossy  arches,  I  thought  — 

**  There  is  a  nun  in  Dryburgh  bower 
Ne'er  looks  upon  the  sun  ; 
There  is  a  monk  in  Melrose  tower, 
He  speaketh  word  to  none. 

That  nun  who  ne'er  beholds  the  day, 

That  monk  who  speaks  to  none, 
That  nun  was  Smaylhomc's  lady  gay, 

That  monk  the  bold  Baron." 

It  seems  that  there  is  a  vault  in  this  edifice  which  has  had 
some  superstitious  legends  attached  to  it,  from  having  been  the 
residence,  about  fifty  years  ago,  of  a  mysterious  lady,  who, 
being  under  a  vow  never  to  behold  tlie  light  of  the  sun,  only 
left  her  cell  at  midnight.  This  little  story,  of  course,  gives 
just  enough  superstitious  chill  to  this  beautiful  ruin  to  liel^)  the 
effect  of  the  pointed  arches,  the  clinging  wreaths  of  ivy,  the 
shadowy  pines,  and  yew  trees  ;  in  short,  if  one  had  not  a 
guide  waiting,  who  had  a  bad  cold,  if  one  could  stroll  here 
at  leisure  by  twilight  or  moonlight,  one  might  get  up  a  con- 
siderable deal  of  the  mystic  and  poetic. 

There  is  a  part  of  the  ruin  that  stands  most  picturesquely 
by  itself,  as  if  old  Time  had  intended  it  for  a  monument.  It 
is  tlie  niin  of  that  part  of  the  chapel  called  St.  Mary's  Aisle  ; 
it  stands  surrounded  by  luxuriant  thickets  of  pine  and  other 
trees,  a  i  luster  of  bciuitiful  Gothic  arches  supporting  a  second 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 


141 


■«feV^>A^  ^  •c-VA'^.;^^^^ 


tier  of  smaller  and  more  fanciful  ones,  one  or  two  of  Avhich 
liave  that  light  touch  of  the  Moorish  in  their  form  which  gives 
such  a  singular  and  poetic  effect  in  many  of  the  old  Gothic 
ruins.  Out  of  these  wild  arches  and  windows  wave  wreaths 
of  ivy,  and  slender  harebells  shake  their  blue  pendants,  look- 
ing in  and  out  of  the  lattices  like  little  capricious  fairies. 
There  are  fragments  of  ruins  lying  on  the  gi'ound,  and  the 
whole  air  of  the  thing  is  as  wild,  and  dreamlike,  and  pic- 
turesque as  the  poet's  fanciful  heart  could  have  desired. 

Underneath  these  arches  he  lies  beside  his  wife ;  around 
him  the  representation  of  the  two  things  he  loved  most  —  tho 
wild  bloom  and  beauty  of  nature,  and  the  architectural  me- 


142  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LArCDS. 

morial  of  by-*^one  history  and  art.  Yet  there  was  one  thing 
I  felt  I  would  have  had  otherwise  ;  it  seemed  to  me  that  the 
flat  stones  of  the  pavement  are  a  weight  too  heavy  and  too  cold 
to  be  laid  on  the  breast  of  a  lover  of  nature  and  the  beautiful. 
The  green  tuif,  springing  with  flowers,  that  lies  above  a  gi'ave, 
does  not  seem  to  us  so  hopeless  a  barrier  between  us  and 
what  was  warm  and  loving ;  the  springing  grass  and  daisies 
there  seem  types  and  assurances  that  the  mortal  beneath  shall 
put  on  immortality ;  they  come  up  to  us  as  kind  messages  from 
the  peaceful  dust,  to  say  that  it  is  resting  in  a  certain  hope  of 
a  glorious  resurrection. 

On  the  cold  flagstones,  walled  in  by  iron  railings,  there  were 
no  daisies  and  no  moss  ;  but  I  picked  many  of  both  from  the 
green  turf  around,  wliich,  with  some  sprigs  of  ivy  from  the 
walls,  I  send  you. 

It  is  strange  that  we  turn  away  from  the  grave  of  this  man, 
■who  achieved  to  himself  the  most  brilliant  destiny  that  ever 
an  author  did, — raising  himself  by  his  OAvn  unassisted  efforts 
to  be  the  chosen  companions  of  nobles  and  princes,  obtaining 
all  that  heart  could  desire  of  riches  and  honor, — we  turn 
away  and  say.  Poor  Walter  Scott !  How  desolately  touching 
is  the  account  in  Lockhart,  of  his  dim  and  indistinct  agony 
the  day  his  wife  was  brought  here  to  be  buried  !  and  the  last 
part  of  that  biography  is  the  saddest  history  that  I  know ; 
it  really  makes  us  breathe  a  long  sigh  of  relief  when  we  read 
of  the  lowering  of  the  coflSn  into  this  vault. 

What  force  does  all  this  give  to  the  passage  in  his  diary  in 
which  he  records  his  estimate  of  life!  —  "What  is  this  world? 
a  dream  within  a  dream.  As  we  grow  older,  each  step  is  an 
awakening.  Tlie  youth  awakes,  as  he  thinks,  from  childhood ; 
the  full-grown  man  despises  the  pursuits  of  youth  as  visionary ; 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       143 

the  old  man  looks  on  manhood  as  a  feverish  dream.  The 
grave  the  last  sleep  ?  No ;  it  is  the  last  and  final  awak- 
ening." 

It  has  often  been  remarked,  that  there  is  no  particular 
moral  purpose  aimed  at  by  Scott  in  his  writings ;  he  often 
speaks  of  it  himself  in  his  last  days,  in  a  tone  of  humility. 
He  represents  himself  as  having  been  employed  mostly  in  the 
comparatively  secondary  department  of  giving  innocent  amuse- 
ment. He  often  expressed,  humbly  and  earnestly,  the  hope 
that  he  had,  at  least,  done  no  harm;  but  I  am  inclined  to 
think,  that  although  moral  effect  was  not  primarily  his  object, 
yet  the  influence  of  his  writings  and  whole  existence  on  earth 
has  been  decidedly  good. 

It  is  a  great  thing  to  have  a  mind  of  such  power  and  such 
influence,  whose  recognitions  of  right  and  wrong,  of  virtue 
and  vice,  were,  in  most  cases,  so  clear  and  determined.  He 
never  enlists  our  sympathies  in  favor  of  vice,  by  drawing 
those  seductive  pictures,  in  which  it  comes  so  near  the  shape 
and  form  of  virtue  that  the  mind  is  puzzled  as  to  the  bounda- 
ry line.  He  never  makes  young  ladies  feel  that  they  would 
like  to  marry  corsairs,  pirates,  or  sentimental  villains  of  any 
description.  The  most  objectionable  thing,  perhaps,  about  his 
influence,  is  its  sympathy  with  the  war  spirit.  A  person 
Christianly  educated  can  hardly  read  some  of  his  descriptions 
in  the  Lady  of  the  Lake  and  Marmion  without  an  emotion  of 
disgust,  hke  what  is  excited  by  the  same  things  in  Homer ; 
and  as  the  world  comes  more  and  more  under  the  influence 
of  Christ,  it  will  recede  more  and  more  from  this  kind  of 
literature. 

Scott  has  been  censured  as  being  wilfully  unjust  to  the 
Covenanters  and  Puritans.     I  think  he  meant  really  to  deal 


144       SUNNY  MKMOKIKS  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

fairly  by  them,  and  that  what  he  called  fairness  might  seem 
rank  injustice  to  those  brought  up  to  venerate  them,  as  we 
have  been.  I  suppose  that  in  Old  Mortality  it  was  Scott's 
honest  intention  to  balance  the  two  parties  about  fairly,  by 
putting  on  the  Covenant  side  his  good,  steady,  well-behaved 
hero,  Mr.  Morton,  who  is  just  as  much  of  a  Puritan  as  the 
Puritans  would  have  been  had  they  taken  Sir  Walter  Scott's 
advice  ;  that  is  to  say,  a  very  nice,  sensible,  moral  man,  who 
takes  the  Puritan  side  because  he  thinks  it  the  right  side, 
but  contemplates  all  the  devotional  enthusiasm  and  religious 
ecstasies  of  his  associates  from  a  merely  artistic  and  pictorial 
point  of  view.  The  trouble  was,  when  he  got  his  model 
Puritan  done,  nobody  ever  knew  what  he  was  meant  for; 
and  then  all  the  young  ladies  voted  steady  Henry  Morton  a 
bore,  and  went  to  falling  in  love  with  his  Cavalier  rival,  Lord 
Evandale,  and  people  talked  as  if  it  was  a  preconcerted  ar- 
rangement of  Scott,  to  surprise  the  female  heai*t,  and  carry 
it  over  to  the  royalist  side. 

The  fact  was,  in  describing  Evandale  he  made  a  living, 
effective  character,  because  he  was  describing]:  somethinjj  he 
had  full  sympathy  with,  and  put  his  whole  life  into;  but 
Henry  Morton  is  a  laborious  arrangement  of  starch  and  paste- 
board to  produce  one  of  those  supposititious,  just-right  men, 
who  are  always  the  stupidest  of  mortals  after  they  are  made. 
As  to  why  Scott  did  not  describe  such  a  character  as  the 
martyr  Duke  of  Argyle,  or  Hampden,  or  Sir  Harry  Vane, 
where  high  birth,  and  noble  breeding,  and  chivalrous  senti- 
ment were  all  united  with  intense  devotional  fervor,  the  an- 
swer is,  that  he  could  not  do  it ;  he  had  not  that  in  him  where- 
with to  do  it ;  a  man  cannot  create  that  of  which  he  has  not  first 
had  the  elem(?nts  in  himself;  and  devotional  enthusiasm  is  a 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       145 

thing  which  Scott  never  felt.  Nevertheless,  I  believe  that  he 
was  perfectly  sincere  in  saying  that  he  would,  "  if  necessary, 
die  a  martyr  for  Christianity."  He  had  calm,  firm  principle 
to  any  extent,  but  it  never  was  kindled  into  fervor.  He  was 
of  too  calm  and  happy  a  temperament  to  sound  the  deepest 
recesses  of  souls  torn  up  from  their  depths  by  mighty  conflicts 
and  sorrows.  There  are  souls  like  the  "  alabaster  vase  of 
ointment,  very  precious,"  which  shed  no  perfume  of  devotion 
because  a  great  sorrow  has  never  broken  them.  Could  Scott 
have  been  given  back  to  the  world  again  after  the  heavy  dis- 
cipline of  life  had  passed  over  him,  he  would  have  spoken 
otherwise  of  many  things.  What  he  vainly  struggled  to  say 
to  Lockhart  on  his  death  bed  would  have  been  a  new  revela- 
tion of  his  soul  to  the  world,  could  he  have  lived  to  unfold  it 
in  literature.  But  so  it  is :  when  we  have  leai^ned  to  live, 
life's  purpose  is  answered,  and  we  die ! 

This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  some  conversations  held 
while  rambling  among  these  scenes,  going  in  and  out  of  arches, 
climbing  into  nooks  and  through  loopholes,  picking  moss  and 
ivy,  and  occasionally  retreating  under  the  shadow  of  some 
arch,  while  the  skies  were  indulging  in  a  sudden  burst  of 
emotion.  The  poor  woman  who  acted  as  our  guide,  ensconcing 
herself  in  a  dry  corner,  stood  Hke  a  literal  Patience  on  a 
monument,  waiting  for  us  to  be  through ;  we  were  sorry  for 
her,  but  as  it  was  our  first  and  last  chance,  and  she  would 
stay  there,  we  could  not  help  it. 

Near  by  the  abbey  is  a  square,  modern  mansion,  belonging 
to  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  at  present  untenanted.  There  were 
some  black,  solemn  yew  trees  there,  old  enougli  to  have  told 
us  a  deal  of  history  had  they  been  inclined  to  speak ;  as  it 
was,  they  could  only  drizzle. 
VOL.  J.  13 


14G  SUNNY    MKMORIttS    OV    lOKKIGN    LANDS. 

As  we  were  walking  through  the  yard,  a  bird  broke  out 
into  a  clear,  sweet  song. 

«  What  bird,  is  that  ?  "  said  I. 

"  I  tliink  it  is  the  mavis,"  said  the  guide.     This  brought 

up,— 

"  The  mavis  wild,  wie  mony  a  note, 
Sings  drowsy  day  to  rest." 

And  also,  — 

"  Merry  it  is  in  wild  green  wood, 
When  mavis  and  merle  are  singing." 

A  verse,  by  the  by,  dismally  suggestive  of  contrast  to  this 
rainy  day. 

As  we  came  along  out  of  the  gate,  walking  back  towards  the 
village  of  Dryburgh,  we  began  to  hope  that  the  skies  had 
fairly  wept  themselves  out ;  at  any  rate  the  rain  stopped,  and 
the  clouds  wore  a  sulky,  leaden-gray  aspect,  as  if  they  were 
thinking  what  to  do  next. 

We  saw  a  knot  of  respectable-looking  laboring  men  at  a 
little  distance,  conversing  in  a  group,  and  now  and  then  steal- 
ing glances  at  us ;  one  of  them  at  last  approached  and  in- 
quired if  this  was  Mrs.  Stowe,  and  being  answered  in  the 
aflirmative,  they  all  said  heartily,  "  Madam,  ye're  right  wel- 
come to  Scotland."  The  chief  speaker,  then,  after  a  little 
conversation,  asked  our  party  if  we  would  do  him  the  favor 
to  step  into  his  cottage  near  by,  to  take  a  little  refreshment 
after  our  ramble;  to  which  we  assented  with  alacrity.  lie 
led  the  way  to  a  neat,  stone  cottage,  with  a  flower  goi-den 
before  the  door,  and  said  to  a  thrifty,  rosy-cheeked  woman, 
who  met  us,  "  Well,  and  what  do  you  think,  wife,  if  I  have 
brought  Mrs.  StoAve  and  her  party  to  take  a  cup  of  tea 
with  us?" 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   f'OREIGN    LANDS.  147 

We  were  soon  seated  in  a  neat,  clean  kitchen,  and  our 
hostess  hastened  to  put  the  teakettle  over  the  grate,  lament- 
ing that  she  had  not  known  of  our  coming,  that  she  might 
have  had  a  fire  "ben  the  house,"  meaning  by  the  phrase 
what  we  Yankees  mean  by  ^  in  the  best  room."  TVe  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  carpet  and  paper  of  this  room,  when  the  door 
was  opened  to  brmg  out  a  few  more  chairs. 

"  Bclyve  the  bairns  cam  dropping  in," 

rosy-cheeked,  fresh  from  school,  with  satchel  and  school  books, 
to  whom  I  was  introduced  as  the  mother  of  Topsy  and  Eva. 

"  Ah,"  said  the  father,  "  such  a  time  as  we '  had,  when  we 
were  reading  the  book ;  whiles  they  were  greetin'  and  whiles 
in  a  rage." 

My  host  was  quite  a  young-looking  man,  with  the  clear  blue 
eye  and  glowing  complexion  which  one  so  often  meets  here ; 
and  his  wife,  with  her  blooming  cheeks,  neat  dress,  and  well- 
kept  house,  was  evidently  one  of  those  fully  competent 

"  To  gar  old  claes  look  amaist  as  weel  as  new." 

I  inquired  the  ages  of  the  several  children,  to  which  the 
father  answered  with  about  as  much  chronological  accuracy 
as  men  generally  display  in  such  points  of  family  history. 
The  gude  wife,  after  correcting  his  figures  once  or  twice, 
turned  away  with  a  somewhat  indignant  exclamation  about 
men  that  didn't  know  their  own  bairns'  ages,  in  which  many 
of  us,  I  presume,  could  sympathize. 

I  must  not  omit  to  say,  that  a  neighbor  of  our  host  had 
been  pressed  to  come  in  with  us ;  an  intelligent-lookinfr  man, 
about  fifty.  In  the  course  of  conversation,  I  found  that  they 
were  both  masons  by  irade,  and  as  the  rain  had  prevented 


148  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

their  -svorking,  they  had  met  to  spend  then*  time  in  reading. 
They  said  they  ^vere  reading  a  work  on  America  ;  and 
thereat  followed  a  good  deal  of  general  conycrsation  on  our 
country.  I  found  that,  like  many  others  in  this  old  coun- 
try, they  had  a  tie  to  connect  them  with  the  new  —  a  son 
in  America. 

One  of  our  company,  in  the  course  of  the  conversation, 
says,  "  They  say  in  America  that  the  working  classes  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  are  not  so  well  off  as  the  slaves."  The 
man's  eye  flashed.  "  There  are  many  things,"  he  said,  "  about 
the  working  classes,  which  are  not  what  they  should  be ; 
tliere's  room  for  a  great  deal  of  improvement  in  our  condition, 
but,"  he  added  with  an  emphasis,  "  we  are  no  slaves  I "  There 
was  a  touch  of  the 

"  Scots  wha  ha'  wi'  Wallace  bled" 

about  the  man,  as  he  spoke,  which  made  the  affirmation  quite 
unnecessary. 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  you  think  the  affairs  of  the  working  classes 
much  improved  of  late  years  ?  " 

"  0,  certainly,"  said  the  other ;  "  since  the  repeal  of  the 
com  laws  and  the  passage  of  the  factory  bill,  and  this  emigra- 
tion to  America  and  Australia,  affairs  have  been  very  much 
altered." 

"We  asked  them  what  they  could  make  a  day  by  their  trade. 
It  was  much  less,  certainly,  than  is  paid  for  the  same  labor 
in  our  country ;  but  yet  the  air  of  comfort  and  respecta- 
bility about  the  cottage,  the  well-clothed  and  well-schooled, 
intelligent  children,  spoke  well  for  the  result  of  their  labors. 

While  our  conversation  was  carried  on,  the  teakettle  com- 
menced singing  most  melodiously,  and  by  a  mututd  system  of 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       149 

accommodation,  a  neat  tea  table  was  spread  in  the  midst  of 
us,  and  we  soon  found  ourselves  seated,  enjoying  some  deli- 
cious bread  and  butter,  with  the  garniture  of  cheese,  preserves, 
and  tea.  Our  host  before  the  meal  craved  a  blessing  of  Him 
who  had  made  of  one  blood  all  the  families  of  the  earth  ;  a 
beautiful  and  touching  allusion,  I  thought,  between  Americans 
and  Scotchmen.  Our  long  ramble  in  the  rain  had  given  us 
sometlung  of  an  appetite,  and  we  did  ample  justice  to  the 
excellence  of  the  cheer. 

After  tea  we  walked  on  down  again  towards  the  Tweed,  our 
host  and  his  friends  waiting  on  us  to  the  boat.  As  we  passed 
through  the  village  of  Dryburgh,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
cottages  seemed  to  be  standing  in  their  doors,  bowing  and 
smiling,  and  expressing  their  welcome  in  a  gentle,  kindly  way, 
that  was  quite  touching. 

As  we  were  walking  towards  the  Tweed,  the  Eildon  Hill, 
with  its  three  points,  rose  before  us  in  the  horizon.  I  thought 
of  the  words  in  the  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel :  — 

*'  "Warrior,  I  could  say  to  thee, 
The  words  that  cleft  Eildon  Hill  in  three, 
And  bridled  the  Tweed  with  a  curb  of  stone." 

I  appealed  to  my  friends  if  they  knew  any  thing  about  the 
tradition ;  I  thought  they  seemed  rather  reluctant  to  speak  of 
it.  O,  there  was  some  foolish  story,  they  beheved ;  they  did 
not  well  know  what  it  was. 

The  picturesque  age  of  human  childhood  is  gone  by ;  men 
and  women  cannot  always  be  so  accommodating  as  to  beheve 
unreasonable  stories  for  the  convenience  of  poets. 

At  the  Tweed  the  man  with  the  skiff  was  waiting  for  us. 
13* 


150       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

In  parting  with  my  friend,  I  said,  "  Farewell.  I  lioi^c  we  may 
meet  again  some  time." 

"  I  am  sure  we  shall,  madam,"  said  he ;  "  if  not  here,  cer- 
tainly hereafter." 

After  being  rowed  across  I  stopped  a  few  moments  to  ad- 
mire the  rippling  of  the  clear  water  over  the  pebbles.  "  I 
want  some  of  these  pebbles  of  the  Tweed,"  I  said,  "  to  carry 
home  to  America."  Two  hearty,  rosy-cheeked  Scotch  lasses 
on  the  shore  soon  supplied  me  with  as  many  as  I  could  carry. 

We  got  into  our  carriage,  and  drove  up  to  Melrose.  After 
a  little  negotiation  with  the  keeper,  the  doors  were  unlocked. 
Just  at  that  moment  the  sun  was  so  gracious  as  to  give  a  full 
look  through  the  windows,  and  touch  with  streaks  of  gold  the 
green,  grassy  floor ;  for  the  beautiful  ruin  is  floored  with 
green  grass  and  roofed  Avith  sky :  even  poetry  has  not  ex- 
aggerated its  beauty,  and  could  not.  There  is  never  any  end 
to  the  charms  of  Gothic  architecture.  It  is  like  the  beauty 
of  Cleopatra, — 

"  Age  cannot  wither,  custom  cannot  stale 
llcr  infinite  variety." 

Here  is  this  Melrose,  now,  which  has  been  berh}Tned,  be- 
draggled through  infinite  guide  books,  and  been  gaped  at  and 
smoked  at  by  dandies,  and  been  called  a  "  dear  love  "  by  pretty 
young  ladies,  and  been  hawked  about  as  a  trade  article  in  all 
neighboring  shops,  and  you  know  perfectly  well  that  all  your 
raptures  are  spoken  for  and  expected  at  the  door,  and  your 
going  off  in  an  ecstasy  is  a  regular  part  of  the  programme  ;  and 
yet,  after  all,  the  sad,  wild,  sweet  beauty  of  the  thing  comes 
down  on  one  like  a  cloud ;  even  for  the  sake  of  being  original 
you  could  not,  in  conscience,  declare  you  did  not  admire  it. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       151 

We  went  into  a  minute  examination  with  our  guide,  a 
young  man,  Avho  seemed  to  have  a  full  sense  of  its  peculiar 
beauties.  I  must  say  here,  that  Walter  Scott's  description  in 
the  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  is  as  perfect  in  most  details  as 
if  it  had  been  written  by  an  architect  as  well  as  a  poet  —  it  is 
a  kind  of  glorified  daguerreotype. 

This  building  was  the  first  of  the  elaborate  and  fanciful 
Gothic  which  I  had  seen,  and  is  said  to  excel  in  the  delicacy 
of  its  carving  any  except  Roslin  Castle.  As  a  specimen  of 
the  exactness  of  Scott's  description,  take  this  verse,  where  he 
speaks  of  the  cloisters :  — 

"  Spreading  herbs  and  flowerets  bright, 
Glistened  with  the  dew  of  night, 
Nor  herb  nor  floweret  glistened  there, 
But  were  carved  in  the  cloister  arches  as  fair." 

These  cloisters  were  covered  porticoes  surrounding  the  gar- 
den, w^here  the  monks  walked  for  exercise.  They  are  now 
mostly  destroyed,  but  our  guide  showed  us  the  remains  of  ex- 
quisite carvings  there,  in  which  each  group  was  an  imitation 
of  some  leaf  or  flower,  such  as  the  curly  kail  of  Scotland ;  a 
leaf,  by  the  by,  as  worthy  of  imitation  as  the  Greek  acanthus, 
the  trefoil  oak,  and  some  other  leaves,  the  names  of  which  I 
do  not  remember.  These  Gothic  artificers  were  lovers  of 
nature  ;  they  studied  at  the  fountain  head ;  hence  the  never- 
dying  freshness,  variety,  and  originality  of  their  conceptions. 

Another  passage,  whose  architectural  accuracy  you  feel  at 
once,  is  this:  — 

"  They  entered  now  the  chancel  tall ; 
The  darkened  roof  rose  high  aloof 
On  pillars  lofty,  light,  and  small : 


152       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

The  keystone  that  locked  each  ribbed  aisle 

Was  a  flcur-dc-lis,  or  a  quatrc-feuille  ; 

The  corbels  were  carved  grotesque  and  grim  ; 

And  the  pillars,  with  clustered  shafts  so  trim, 

"With  base  and  with  capital  flourished  around, 

Seemed  bundles  of  lances  wliich  garlands  had  bound." 

The  quatrc-feuille  here  spoken  of  is  an  ornament  formed 
hy  the  junction  of  four  leaves.  The  frequent  recurrence  of 
the  fleur-de-lis  in  the  carvings  here  shows  traces  of  French 
hands  employed  in  the  architecture.  In  one  place  in  the 
abbey  there  is  a  rude  inscription,  in  wliich  a  French  architect 
commemorates  the  part  he  has  borne  in  constructing  the 
building. 

These  corbels  arc  the  projections  from  which  the  arches 
spring,  usually  carved  in  some  fantastic  mask  or  face ;  and  on 
these  the  Shakspearian  imagination  of  the  Gothic  artists  seems 
to  have  let  itself  loose  to  run  riot :  there  is  every  variety  of 
expression,  from  the  most  beautiful  to  the  most  goblin  and 
grotesque.  One  has  the  leer  of  fiendish  triumph,  with  bud- 
ding horns,  showing  too  plainly  his  paternity ;  again  you 
have  the  drooping  eyelids  and  saintly  features  of  some  fair 
virgin  ;  and  then  the  gasping  face  of  some  old  monk,  appar- 
ently in  the  agonies  of  death,  with  his  toothless  gums,  hollow 
cheeks,  and  sunken  eyes.  Other  faces  have  an  earthly  and 
sensual  leer ;  some  are  wrought  into  expressions  of  scorn  and 
mockery,  some  of  supplicating  agony,  and  some  of  grim 
despair. 

One  wonders  what  gloomy,  sarcastic,  poetic,  passionate  mind 
has  thus  amused  itself,  recording  in  stone  all  the  range  of 
passions  —  saintly,  earthly,  and  diabolic  —  on  the  varying  hu- 
man face.     One  fancies  each  corbel  to  have  had  its  history, 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       153 

its  archetype  in  nature ;  a  thousand  possible  stories  spring  into 
one's  mind.  They  are  wrought  with  such  a  startling  and  in- 
dividual definiteness,  that  one  feels  as  about  Shakspeare's 
characters,  as  if  they  must  have  had  a  counterpart  in  real 
existence.  The  pure,  saintly  nun  may  have  been  some  sis- 
ter, or  some  daughter,  or  some  early  love,  of  the  artist,  who 
in  an  evil  hour  saw  the  convent  barriers  rise  between  her  and 
all  thdt  was  loving.  The  fat,  sensual  face  may  have  been  a 
sly  sarcasm  on  some  worthy  abbot,  more  eminent  in  flesh  than 
spirit.  The  fiendish  faces  may  have  been  wrought  out  of  the 
author's  own  perturbed  dreams. 

An  arcliitectural  work  says  that  one  of  these  corbels,  with 
an  anxious  and  sinister  Oriental  countenance,  has  been  made, 
by  the  guides,  to  perform  duty  as  an  authentic  hkeness  of 
the  wizard  Michael  Scott.  Now,  I  must  earnestly  protest 
against  stating  things  in  that  way.  Why  does  a  writer  want 
to  break  up  so  laudable  a  poetic  design  in  the  guides? 
He  would  have  been  much  better  occupied  in  interpreting 
some  of  the  half-defaced  old  inscriptions  into  a  corroborative 
account.  No  doubt  it  was  Michael  Scott,  and  looked  just  like 
him.   " 

It  were  a  fine  field  for  a  story  writer  to  analyze  the  con- 
ception and  growth  of  an  abbey  or  cathedral  as  it  formed  it- 
self, day  after  day,  and  year  after  year,  in  the  soul  of  some 
dreamy,  impassioned  workman,  who  made  it  the  note  book 
where  he  wrought  out  imperishably  in  stone  all  his  observa- 
tions on  nature  and  man.  I  think  it  is  this  strong  individual- 
ism of  the  architect  in  the  buildings  that  give  the  never-dying 
charm  and  variety  to  the  Gothic :  each  Gothic  building  is  a 
record  of  the  growth,  character,  and  individuaUties  of  its 
builder's  soul;  and  hence  no  two  can  be  ahke. 


154       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

I  was  really  disappointed  to  miss  in  the  abbey  the  stained 
glass  "which  gives  such  a  lustre  and  glow  to  the  poetic  de- 
scription. I  might  have  kiio^m  better  ;  but  somehow  I  came 
there  fully  expecting  to  see  the  -vNindow,  where  — 

"  Full  in  the  midst  his  cross  of  red 
Triumphant  Michael  brandished ; 
The  moonbeam  kissed  the  holy  pane, 
And  threw  on  the  pavement  the  bloody  stain." 

Alas  !  the  painted  glass  was  all  of  the  poet's  own  setting ; 
years  ago  it  was  shattered  by  the  hands  of  violence,  and  the 
grace  of  the  fashion  of  it  hath  perished. 

The  guide  pointed  to  a  broken  fragment  which  commanded 
a  view  of  the  whole  interior.  "  Sir  Walter  used  to  sit  here," 
he  said.  I  fancied  I  could  see  him  sitting  on  the  fragment, 
gazing  around  the  ruin,  and  mentally  restoring  it  to  its  origi- 
nal splendor ;  he  brings  back  the  colored  light  into  the 
windows,  and  throws  its  many-hued  reflections  over  the 
graves ;  he  ranges  the  banners  along  around  the  walls,  and 
rebuilds  every  shattered  arch  and  aisle,  till  we  have  the  pic- 
ture as  it  rises  on  us  in  his  book. 

I  confess  to  a  strong  feeling  of  reality,  when  my  guide  took 
me  to  a  grave  where  a  flat,  green,  mossy  stone,  broken  across 
the  middle,  is  reputed  to  be  the  grave  of  Michael  Scott.  I 
felt,  for  the  moment,  verily  persuaded  that  if  the  guide  would 
pry  up  one  of  the  stones  we  should  see  him  there,  as  de- 
scribed :  — 

"  His  hoary  beard  in  silver  rolled, 
He  seemed  some  seventy  winters  old ; 
A  palmer's  amice  wrapped  him  round, 
With  a  ^^Tought  Spanish  baldric  bound, 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.      155 

Like  a  pilgrim  from  beyond  the  sea : 
His  left  hand  held  his  book  of  might ; 
A  silver  cross  was  in  his  right; 

The  lamp  was  placed  beside  his  knee  : 
High  and  majestic  was  his  look, 
At  which  the  fellest  fiends  had  shook, 
And  all  unruffled  was  his  face  : 
They  trusted  his  soul  had  gotten  grace." 

I  never  knew  before  how  fervent  a  believer  I  had  been  in 
the  realities  of  these  things. 

There  are  two  graves  that  I  saw,  which  correspond  to  those 
mentioned  in  these  lines :  — 

"  And  there  the  dying  lamps  did  burn 
Before  thy  lone  and  lowly  urn, 
O  gallant  chief  of  Otterburne, 
And  thine,  dark  knight  of  Liddesdale." 

The  Knight  of  Otterburne  was  one  of  the  Earls  Douglas, 
killed  in  a  battle  with  Henry  Percy,  called  Hotspur,  in  1388. 
The  I^ight  of  Liddesdale  was  another  Douglas,  who  lived 
in  the  reign  of  David  H.,  and  was  called  the  "  Flower  of 
Chivalry."  One  performance  of  this  "Flower"  is  rather 
characteristic  of  the  times.  It  seems  the  king  made  one 
Ramsey  high  sheriff  of  Teviotdale.  The  Earl  of  Douglas 
chose  to  consider  this  as  a  personal  affront,  as  he  wanted  the 
office  himself.  So,  by  way  of  exhibiting  his  own  qualifica- 
tions for  administering  justice,  he  one  day  came  down  on 
Ramsey,  vi  et  annis,  took  him  off  his  judgment  seat,  carried 
him  to  one  of  his  castles,  and  ^vithout  more  words  tumbled 
him  and  his  horse  into  a  deep  dungeon,  where  they  both 
starved  to  death.  There's  a  "Flower"  for  you,  pecuHar  to 
the  good  old  times.  Nobody  could  have  doubted  after  this 
his  quahfications  to  be  high  slieriff. 


156       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

Having  looked  all  over  the  abbey  from  below,  I  noticed 
a  ruinous  winding  staircase  ;  so  up  I  went,  rustling  along 
throudi  the  ivy,  which  matted  and  wove  itself  around  the 
Stones.  Soon  I  found  myself  looking  do^\^l  on  the  abbey  from 
a  new  point  of  view — from  a  little  narrow  stone  gallery,  which 
threads  the  whole  inside  of  the  building.  There  I  paced  up 
and  do^vn,  looking  occasionally  through  the  ivy-^v^eathed 
arches  on  the  green,  turfy  floor  below. 

It  seems  as  if  silence  and  stilhiess  had  become  a  real  pres- 
ence ill  these  old  places.  The  voice  of  the  guide  and  the 
company  beneath  had  a  hushed  and  muffled  sound  ;  and  when 
I  rustled  the  ivy  leaves,  or,  in  tiying  to  break  off  a  branch, 
loosened  some  fragment  of  stone,  the  sound  affected  me  with 
a  starthng  distinctness.  I  could  not  but  inly  muse  and  won- 
der on  the  life  these  old  monks  and  abbots  led,  shrined  up 
here  as  they  were  in  this  lovely  retirement. 

In  ruder  ages  these  places  were  the  only  retreat  for  men 
of  a  spirit  \oo  gentle  to  take  force  and  bloodshed  for  their 
life's  work  ;  men  who  believed  that  pen  and  parchment  were 
better  than  sword  and  steel.  Here  I  suppose  multitudes  of 
them  lived  harmless,  dreamy  lives — reading  old  manuscripts, 
copying  and  illuminating  new  ones. 

It  is  said  that  this  Melrose  is  of  very  ancient  origin,  ex- 
tending back  to  the  time  of  the  Culdees,  the  earliest  mission- 
aries who  established  religion  in  Scotland,  and  who  had  a 
settlement  in  this  vicinity.  However,  a  royal  saint,  after  a 
while,  took  it  in  hand  to  patronize,  and  of  course  the  credit 
went  to  him,  and  from  him  Scott  calls  it  "  St.  David's  lonely 
pile."     In  time  a  body  of  Cistercian  monks  were  settled  there. 

According  to  all  accounts  the  abbey  has  raised  some  famous 
Blunts.     We   read  of  trances,  illuminations,  and   miraculous 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       157 

beatifications ;  and  of  one  abbot  in  particular,  who  exhibited  the 
odor  of  sanctity  so  strongly  that  it  is  said  the  mere  opening  of 
his  grave,  at  intervals,  was  sufficient  to  perfume  the  whole 
establishment  with  odors  of  paradise.  Such  stories  apart, 
however,  we  must  consider  that  for  all  the  Hterature,  art,  and 
love  of  the  beautiful,  all  the  humanizing  influences  which  hold 
society  together,  the  world  was  for  many  ages  indebted  to 
these  monastic  institutions. 

In  the  reformation  this  abbey  was  destroyed  amid  the 
general  storm  which  attacked  the  ecclesiastical  architecture  of 
Scotland.  "  Pull  down  the  nest,  and  the  rooks  will  fly  away," 
was  the  common  saying  of  the  mob  ;  and  in  those  days  a  man 
was  famous  according  as  he  had  lifted  up  axes  upon  the  carved 
work. 

Mekose  was  considered  for  many  years  merely  a  stone  quar- 
ry, from  which  materials  were  taken  for  all  sorts  of  buildings, 
such  as  constructing  tolbooths,  repairing  mills  and  sluices ; 
and  it  has  been  only  till  a  comparatively  recent  period  that 
its  priceless  value  as  an  architectural  remain  has  led  to  prop- 
er efforts  for  its  preservation.  It  is  now  most  carefully 
kept. 

After  wandering  through  the  inside  we  walked  out  into  the 
old  graveyard,  to  look  at  the  outside.  The  yard  is  full  of  old, 
curious,  mouldering  gravestones  ;  and  on  one  of  them  there  is 
an  inscription  sad  and  peculiar  enough  to  have  come  from  the 
heart  of  the  architect  who  planned  the  abbey ;  it  runs  as 
follows :  — 

"  The  earth,  walks  on  the  earth,  glittering  with  gold ; 
The  earth  goes  to  the  earth  sooner  than  it  wold ; 
The  earth  huilds  on  the  earth  castles  and  towers  ; 
The  earth  says  to  the  earth,  All  shall  he  ours." 
VOL.  1.  14 


158  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOKEIGN    LANDS. 

Here,  also,  we  were  interested  in  a  plain  marble  slab,  which 
marks  the  last  resting-place  of  Scott's  faithful  Tom  Purdie, 
Ijis  zealous  factotum.  In  his  diary,  -when  he  hears  of  the 
wreck  of  his  fortunes,  Scott  says  of  this  serving  man,  "  Poor 
Tom  Purdie,  such  news  will  wring  your  heart,  and  many 
a  poor  fellow's  beside,  to  whom  my  prosperity  was  daily 
bread." 

One  fancies  again  the  picture  described  by  Lockhart,  the 
strong,  lank  frame,  hard  features,  sunken  eyes,  and  grizzled 
eyebrows,  the  green  jacket,  white  hat,  and  gray  trousers  — 
the  outer  appointments  of  the  faithful  serving  man.  One  sees 
Scott  walking  familiarly  by  his  side,  staying  himself  on  Tom's 
shoulder,  while  Tom  talks  with  glee  of  "  our  trees,"  and  "  our 
bukes."  One  sees  the  little  skirmishing,  when  master  wants 
trees  planted  one  way  and  man  sees  best  to  plant  them  anoth- 
er ;  and  the  magnanimity  with  which  kindly,  cross-grained  Tom 
at  last  agrees,  on  reflection,  to  "  take  his  honor's  advice  "  about 
the  management  of  his  honor's  own  property.  Here,  between 
master  and  man,  both  freemen,  is  all  that  beauty  of  relation 
sometimes  erroneously  considered  as  the  peculiar  charm  of 
slavery.  Would  it  have  made  the  relation  any  more  pictur- 
esque and  endearing  had  Tom  been  stripped  of  legal  rights, 
and  made  liable  to  sale  with  the  books  and  furniture  of  Abbots- 
ford  ?  Poor  Tom  is  sleeping  here  very  quietly,  with  a  smooth 
coverlet  of  green  grass.  Over  him  is  the  following  inscrip- 
tion :  "  Here  lies  the  body  of  Thomas  Purdie,  wood  forester 
at  Abbotsford,  who  died  29th  October,  1829,  aged  sixty-two 
years.  Thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things;  I  will 
make  thee  ruler  over  many  things."     Matt.  xxv.  21. 

AVe  walked  up,  and  down,  and  about,  getting  the  best  views 
of  the  building.     It  is  scarcely  possible  for  description  to  give 


SUNNY   ME3I0RIES    OF   FOUEIGN    LANDS.  159 

you  the  picture.  The  artist,  in  whose  mind  the  conception 
of  this  building  arose,  was  a  Mozart  in  architecture  ;  a  plain- 
tive and  ethereal  lightness,  a  fanciful  quaintness,  pervaded  his 
composition.  The  building  is  not  a  large  one,  and  it  has  not 
that  air  of  solemn  massive  grandeur,  that  plain  majesty,  which 
impresses  you  in  the  cathedrals  of  Aberdeen  and  Glasgow. 
As  you  stand  looking  at  the  wilderness  of  minarets  and  flying 
buttresses,  the  multiplied  shrines,  and  mouldings,  and  cornices, 
all  incrusted  with  carving  as  endless  in  its  variety  as  the  frost- 
work on  a  window  pane ;  each  shrine,  each  pinnace,  each 
moulding,  a  study  by  itself,  yet  each  contributing,  Hke  the  dif- 
ferent strains  of  a  harmony,  to  the  general  effect  of  the  whole  ; 
it  seems  to  you  that  for  a  thing  so  airy  and  spiritual  to  have 
sprung  up  by  enchantment,  and  to  have  been  the  product 
of  spells  and  fairy  fingers,  is  no  improbable  account  of  the 
matter. 

Speaking  of  gargoyles  —  you  are  no  architect,  neither  am 
I,  but  you  may  as  well  get  used  to  this  descriptive  term; 
it  means  the  water-spouts  which  conduct  the  water  from  the 
gutters  at  the  eaves  of  these  buildmgs,  and  which  are  carved 
in  every  grotesque  and  fanciful  device  that  can  be  imagined. 
They  are  mostly  goblin  and  fiendish  faces,  and  look  as  if  they 
were  darting  out  of  the  church  in  a  towering  passion,  or  a  fit 
of  diabolic  disgust  and  malice.  Besides  these  gargoyles,  there 
are  in  many  other  points  of  the  external  building  representa- 
tions of  fiendish  faces  and  figures,  as  if  in  the  act  of  flpng 
from  the  building,  under  the  influence  of  a  terrible  spell :  by 
this,  as  my  guide  said,  was  expressed  the  idea  that  the  holy 
hymns  and  worship  of  the  church  put  Satan  and  all  his  forces 
to  rout,  and  made  all  that  was  evil  flee. 

One  remark  on  this  building,  in  Billings's  architectural  ac- 


160 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS. 


•^>H.^?v-««Vf*. 


count  of  it,  interested  me ;  and  that  is,  that  it  is  finished  with 
the  most  circumstantial  elegance  and  minuteness  in  those  con- 
cealed portions  which  are  excluded  from  public  view,  and 
which  can  only  be  inspected  bj  laborious  climbing  or  groping ; 
and  he  accounts  for  this  by  the  idea  that  the  whole  carving 
and  execution  was  considered  as  an  act  of  solemn  worship 
and  adoration,  in  which  the  artist  offered  up  his  best  faculties 
to  the  praise  of  the  Creator. 

After  lingering  a  wliile  here,  we  went  home  to  our  inn  or 
hotel.     Now,  these  hotels  in  the  small  towns  of  England,  if 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.      161 

this  is  any  specimen,  are  delightful  affairs  for  travellers,  they 
are  so  comfortable  and  home-like.  Our  snug  little  parlor  was 
radiant  with  the  light  of  the  coal  grate ;  our  table  stood  be- 
fore it,  with  its  bright  silver,  white  cloth,  and  delicate  china 
cups ;  and  then  such  a  dish  of  mutton  chops  !  My  dear,  we 
ai-e  all  mortal,  and  emotions  of  the  beautiful  and  subUme  tend 
especially  to  make  one  hungry.  "We,  therefore,  comforted 
ourselves  over  the  instability  of  earthly  affairs,  and  the  tran- 
sitory nature  of  all  human  grandeur,  by  consolatory  remarks 
on  the  present  whiteness  of  the  bread,  the  sweetness  of  the 
butter ;  and  as  to  the  chops,  all  declared,  with  one  voice, 
that  such  mutton  was  a  thing  unknown  in  America.  I 
moved  an  emendation,  except  on  the  sea  coast  of  Maine.  We 
resolved  to  cherish  the  memory  of  our  little  hostess  in  our 
heart  of  hearts,  and  as  we  gathered  round  the  cheery  grate, 
diying  our  cold  feet,  we  voted  that  poetry  was  a  humbug,  and 
damp,  old,  musty  cathedrals  a  bore.  Such  are  the  inconsist- 
encies of  human  nature ! 

"  Nevertheless,"  said  I  to  S ,  after  dinner,  "  I  am  going 

back  again  to-night,  to  see  that  abbey  by  moonhght.  I  intend 
to  walk  the  whole  figure  while  I  am  about  it." 

Just  on  the  verge  of  twilight  I  stepped  out,  to  see  what  the 
town  afforded  in  the  way  of  rehcs.  To  say  the  truth,  my  eye 
had  been  caught  by  some  cunning  little  tubs  and  pails  in  a 
window,  which  I  thought  might  be  valued  in  the  home  depart- 
ment. I  went  into  a  shop,  where  an  auld  wife  soon  appeared, 
who,  in  rejily  to  my  inquiries,  told  me,  that  the  said  little  tubs 
and  pails  were  made  of  plum  tree  wood  from  Dryburgh  Ab- 
bey, and,  of  course,  partook  of  the  sanctity  of  rehcs.  She 
and  her  husband  seemed  to  be  driving  a  thriving  trade  in 
the  article,  and  either  plum  trees  must  be  very  abundant 
14* 


162  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

at  Dr}'burgh,  or  Avhat  there  are  must  be  gifted  with  that 
power  of  self-multiplication  which  inheres  in  the  wood  of 
the  true  Cross.  I  bought  them  in  blind  faith,  however, 
suppressing  all  rationalistic  doubts,  as  a  good  relic  hunter 
should. 

I  went  up  into  a  little  room  where  an  elderly  woman  pro- 
fessed to  have  quite  a  collection  of  the  Melrose  relics.  Some 
years  ago  extensive  restorations  and  repairs  were  made  in  the 
old  abbey,  in  which  Walter  Scott  took  a  deep  interest.  At 
that  time,  when  the  scaffolding  was  up  for  repairing  the  build- 
ing, as  I  understood,  Scott  had  the  plaster  casts  made  of  dif- 
ferent parts,  which  he  afterwards  incorporated  into  his  own 
dwelling  at  Abbotsford.  I  said  to  the  good  woman  that  I  had 
understood  by  Washington  Irving's  account,  that  Scott  appro- 
priated honajide  fragments  of  the  building,  and  alluded  to  the 
account  which  he  gives  of  the  little  red  sandstone  lion  from 
Melrose.  She  repelled  the  idea  with  great  energy,  and  said 
she  had  often  heard  Sir  Walter  say,  that  he  would  not  carry 
off  a  bit  of  the  building  as  big  as  his  thumb.  She  showed  me 
several  plaster  casts  that  she  had  in  her  possession,  which 
were  taken  at  this  time.  There  were  several  corbels  there ; 
one  was  the  head  of  a'n  old  monk,  and  looked  as  if  it  might 
have  been  a  mask  taken  of  his  face  the  moment  after  death  ; 
the  eyes  were  hollow  and  sunken,  the  cheeks  fallen  in,  the 
mouth  lying  helplessly  open,  showing  one  or  two  melancholy 
old  stumps  of  teeth.  I  wondered  over  this,  whether  it  really 
was  the  fac-simile  of  some  poor  old  Father  Ambrose,  or  Father 
Francis,  whose  disconsolate  look,  after  his  death  agony,  had  so 
struck  the  gloomy  fancy  of  the  artist  as  to  lead  him  to  immor- 
talize him  in  a  corbel,  for  a  lasting  admonition  to  his  fat 
worldly  brethren  ;   for  if  we  may  trust  the  old  song,  these 


SUNNY   3IEM0RIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  163 

monks  of  Melrose  had  rather  a  suspicious  reputation  in  the 
matter  of  worldly  conformity.     The  impudent  ballad  says,  — 

"  0,  the  monks  of  Melrose,  they  made  good  kail 
On  Fridays,  when  they  fasted  ; 
They  never  wanted  beef  or  ale 
As  long  as  their  neighbors'  lasted." 

Naughty,  roistering  fellows !  I  thought  I  could  perceive 
how  this  poor  Father  Francis  had  worn  his  life  out  exhorting 
them  to  repentance,  and  given  up  the  ghost  at  last  in  despair, 
and  so  been  made  at  once  into  a  saint  and  a  corbel. 

There  were  fragments  of  tracery,  of  mouldings  and  cornices, 
and  grotesque  bits  of  architecture  there,  which  I  would  have 
given  a  good  deal  to  be  the  possessor  of.  Stepping  into  a 
little  cottage  hard  by  to  speak  to  the  guide  about  unlocking 
the  gates,  when  we  went  out  on  our  moonlight  excursion  at 
midnight,  I  caught  a  glimpse,  in  an  inner  apartment,  of  a 
splendid,  large,  black  dog.  I  gave  one  exclamation  and  jump, 
and  was  into  the  room  after  him. 

"  Ah,"  said  the  old  man,  "  that  was  just  hke  Sir  Walter ;  he 
always  had  an  eye  for  a  dog." 

It  gave  me  a  kind  of  pain  to  think  of  him  and  his  doo-s. 

O     7 

all  lying  in  the  dust  together ;  and  yet  it  was  pleasant  to  hear 
this  little  remark  of  him,  as  if  it  were  made  by  those  who 
had  often  seen,  and  were  fond  of  thinking  of  him.  The  doo-'s 
name  was  Coal,  and  he  was  black  enough,  and  remarka- 
ble enough,  to  make  a  figure  in  a  story  —  a  genuine  Melrose 
Abbey  dog.  I  should  not  wonder  if  he  were  a  descendant,  in 
a  remote  degree,  of  the  "  mauthe  doog,"  that  supernatural 
beast,  which  Scott  commemorates  in  his  notes.  The  least 
touch  in  the  world  of  such  blood  in  his  veins  would  be,  of 


1G4  SUNNY    ilEMOKlES    OF    FOIIKIGN    LANDS. 

course,  an  appropriate  circumstance  in  a  dog  belonging  to  an 
old  ruined  abbey. 

Well,  I  got  home,  and  narrated  my  adventures  to  my  friends, 
and  showed  them  my  reliquary  purchases,  and  declared  my 
strengthening  intention  to  make  my  ghostly  visit  by  moonlight, 
if  there  was  any  moon  to  be  had  that  night,  which  was  a 
doubtful  possibility. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening  came  in  Mr. ,  who  had 

volunteered  his  services  as  guide  and  attendant  during  the 
interesting  operation. 

"  When  does  the  moon  rise  ?  "  said  one. 

"  0,  a  little  after  eleven  o'clock,  I  beheve,"  said  Mr. . 

Some  of  the  party  gaped  portentously. 

"  You  know^,"  said  I,  "  Scott  says  we  must  see  it  by  moon- 
light ;  it  is  one  of  the  proprieties  of  the  place,  as  I  understand." 

"  How  exquisite  that  description  is,  of  the  effect  of  moon- 
light ! "  says  another. 

"  1  think  it  probable,"  says  Mr. ,  dryly,  "  that  Scott 

never  saw  it  by  moonlight  himself.     He  was  a  man  of  very 
regular  habits,  and  seldom  went  out  evenings." 

The  blank  amazement  with  which  this  communication  was 
received  set  S into  an  inextinguishable  fit  of  laughter. 

"  But  do  you  really  believe  he  never  saw  it  ?  "  said  I,  rather 
crestfalhm. 

"  Well,"  said  the  gentleman,  "  I  have  heard  him  charged 
with  n'^-ver  having  seen  it,  and  he  never  denied  it." 

Knowing  that  Scott  really  was  as  practical  a  man  as  Dr. 
Franklin,  and  as  little  disposed  to  poetic  extravagances,  and 
an  exceedingly  sensible,  family  kind  of  person,  I  thought  very 
probably  this  might  be  true,  unless  he  had  seen  it  some  time 
in  his  early  youth.     Most  likely  good  Mrs.  Scott  never  would 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.      165 

have  let  him  commit  the  impropriety  that  we  were  about  to, 
and  run  the  risk  of  catching  the  rheumatism  by  going  out  to 
see  how  an  old  abbey  looked  at  twelve  o'clock  at  night. 

We  waited  for  the  moon  to  rise,  and  of  course  it  did  not 
rise;  nothing  ever  docs  when  it  is  waited  for.  We  went 
to  one  window,  and  went  to  another ;  half  past  eleven  came, 
and  no  moon.  "  Let  us  give  it  up,"  said  I,  feeUng  rather  fool- 
ish.    However,  we  agreed  to  wait  another  quarter  of  an  hour, 

and  finally  Mr. announced  that  the  moon  was  risen  ;  the 

only  reason  we  did  not  see  it  was,  because  it  was  behind  the 
Eildon  Hills.  So  we  voted  to  consider  her  risen  at  any  rate, 
and  started  out  in  the  dark,  threading  the  narrow  streets  of 
the  village  with  the  comforting  reflection  that  we  were  doing 
what  Sir  Walter  would  think  rather  a  silly  thing.  When  we 
got  out  before  the  abbey  there  was  enough  Hght  behind  the 
Eildon  Hills  to  throw  their  three  shadowy  cones  out  distinctly 
to  view,  and  to  touch  with  a  gloaming,  uncertain  ray  the  ivy- 
clad  walls.  As  we  stood  before  the  abbey,  the  guide  fumbling 
with  his  keys,  and  finally  heard  the  old  lock  clash  as  the  door 
slowly  opened  to  admit  us,  I  felt  a  little  shiver  of  the  ghostly 
come  over  me,  just  enough  to  make  it  agreeable. 

In  the  daytime  we  had  criticized  Walter  Scott's  moonlight 
description  in  the  hues  which  say,  — 

«'  The  distant  Tweed  is  heard  to  rave, 
And  the  owlet  to  hoot  o'er  the  dead  man's  grave." 

"We  hear  nothing  of  the  Tweed,  at  any  rate,"  said  we ;  "that 
must  be  a  poetic  license."  But  now  at  midnight,  as  we  walked 
silently  through  the  mouldering  aisles,  the  brawl  of  the  Tweed 
was  so  distinctly  heard  that  it  seemed  as  if  it  was  close  by  the 
old,  lonely  pile ;  nor  can  any  term  describe  the  sound  more 


166  SUNNY    3IEMOKIE3    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

exactly  than  the  word  "  rave,"  wliich  tlie  poet  has  chosen.  It 
was  the  precise  accuracy  of  this  little  iten^  of  description 
wliich  made  mc  feel  as  if  Scott  must  have  been  here  in  the 
ni;_dit.  I  walked  up  iuto  the  old  chancel,  and  sat  down  where 
^William  of  Deloraine  and  the  monk  sat,  on  the  Scottish  mon- 
arch's tomb,  and  thought  over  the  words 

"  Strange  sounds  along  the  chancel  passed, 
And  banners  wave  without  a  blast ; 
Still  spake  the  monk  when  the  bell  tolled  one." 

And  while  wc  were  there  the  bell  tolled  twelve. 

And  then  we  went  to  Michael  Scott's  grave,  and  we  looked 
through  the  east  oriel,  with  its 

"  Slender  shafts  of  shapely  stone, 
By  foliage  tracery  combined." 

The  fanciful  outlines  showed  all  the  more  distinctly  fur  the 
entire  darkness  within,  and  the  gloaming  moonlight  without. 
The  tall  arches  seemed  higher  in  their  dimness,  and  vaster 
than  they  did  in  the  daytime.  "  Hark ! "  said  I ;  "  what's  that  ?  '* 
as  we  heard  a  rusthng  and  flutter  of  wings  in  the  ivy  branches 
over  our  heads.  Only  a  couple  of  rooks,  whose  antiquarian 
slumbers  were  disturbed  by  the  unwonted  noise  there  at  mid- 
night, and  who  rose  and  flew  away,  rattling  down  some  frag- 
ments of  the  ruin  as  they  went.  It  was  somewhat  odd,  but  I 
could  not  help  fancying,  what  if  these  strange,  goblin  rooks 
were  the  spirits  of  old  monks  coming  back  to  nestle  and  brood 
among  their  ancient  cloisters !  Rooks  are  a  ghostly  sort  of 
bird.  I  think  they  were  made  on  purpose  to  live  in  old  yew 
trees  and  ivy,  as  much  as  yew  trees  and  ivy  were  to  grow 
round  old  churches  and  abbeys.     If  we  once  could  get  inside 


SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 


167 


of  a  rook's  skull,  to  find  out  what  he  is  thinking  of,  I'll  warrant 
that  we  should  know  a  great  deal  more  about  these  old  build- 
inors  than  we  do  now.  I  should  not  wonder  if  there  were 
long  traditionary  histories  handed  down  from  one  generation 
of  rooks  to  another,  and  that  these  are  wliat  they  are  talking 
about  when  we  think  they  are  only  chattering.  I  imagine  I 
see  the  whole  black  fraternity  the  next  day,  sitting,  one  on  a 
gargoyle,  one  on  a  buttress,  another  on  a  shrine,  gossiping  over 
the  event  of  our  nightly  visit. 

We  walked  up  and  down  the  long  aisles,  and  groped  out 
into  the  cloisters ;  and  then  I  thought,  to  get  the  full  ghost- 


163       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

liness  of  the  tbinj^,  we  vrould  go  up  the  old,  ruined  staircase 
into  the  long  galleries,  that 

"  Midway  thread  the  abbey  wall." 

We  got  about  half  way  up,  when  there  came  into  our  faces 
one  of  those  sudden,  passionate  puffs  of  mist  and  rain  which 
Scotch  clouds  seem  to  have  the  faculty  of  getting  up  at  a 
minute's  notice.  "VVliish  !  came  the  wind  in  our  faces,  like  the 
rusthng  of  a  whole  army  of  spirits  down  the  staircase ;  whereat 
we  all  tumbled  back  promiscuously  on  to  each  other,  and  con- 
cluded we  would  not  go  up.  In  fact  we  had  done  the  thing, 
and  so  we  went  home  ;  and  I  dreamed  of  arches,  and  corbels, 
and  gargoyles  all  night.     And  so,  farewell  to  Melrose  Abbey. 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS.  169 


LETTER    IX. 

Edinburgh,  April. 
My  dear  Sister  :  — 

Mr.  S.  and  C returned  from  their  trip  to  Glasgow 

much  delighted  with  the  prospects  indicated  by  the  results  of 
tlie  temperance  meetings  they  attended  there. 

They  were  present  at  the  meeting  of  the  Scottish  Temper- 
ance League,  in  an  audience  of  about  four  thousand  people. 
The  reports  were  encouraging,  and  the  feehng  enthusiastic. 
One  hundred  and  eighty  ministers  are  on  the  list  of  the  League, 
forming  a  nucleus  of  able,  talented,  and  determined  operators. 
It  is  the  intention  to  make  a  movement  for  a  law  which  shall 
secure  to  Scotland  some  of  the  benefits  of  the  Maine  law. 

It  appears  to  me  that  on  the  questions  of  temperance  and 
antislavery,  the  reHgious  communities  of  the  two  countries 
are  in  a  situation  mutually  to  benefit  each  other.  Our  church 
and  ministry  have  been  through  a  long  struggle  and  warfare 
on  this  temperance  question,  in  which  a  very  valuable  expe- 
rience has  been  elaborated.  The  religious  people  of  Great 
Britain,  on  the  contrary,  have  led  on  to  a  successful  result  a 
great  antislavery  experiment,  wherein  their  experience  and 
success  can  be  equally  beneficial  and  encouraging  to  us. 

The  day  after  we  returned  from  Melrose  we  spent  in  rest- 
ing and  riding  about,  as  we  had  two  engagements  in  the  even- 
ing—  one  at  a  party  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Douglas,  of  Cavers, 
and  the  other  at  a  public  temperance  soiree.  Mr.  Douglas  is 
VOL.  I.  15 


170  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

the  author  of  several  Avorks  wlii<,-li  liave  excited  attention ; 
but  perhaps  you  will  remember  him  best  by  his  treatise  on 
the  Advancement  of  Society  in  Religion  and  Knowledge. 
He  is  what  is  called  here  a  "  laird,"  a  man  of  good  fiimily,  a 
large  landed  proprietor,  a  zealous  reformer,  and  a  very  de- 
vout man. 

"We  went  early  to  spend  a  short  time  w^ith  the  family.  I 
was  a  little  surprised,  as  I  entered  the  hall,  to  find  myself  in 
the  midst  of  a  large  circle  of  well-dressed  men  and  women, 
who  stood  apparently  waiting  to  receive  us,  and  who  bowed, 
courtesied,  and  smiled  as  we  came  in.  Mrs.  D.  apologized  to 
me  afterwards,  saying  that  these  were  the  servants  of  the 
fiimily,  that  they  were  exceedingly  anxious  to  see  me,  and  so 
she  had  allowed  them  all  to  come  into  the  hall.  They  were 
so  respectable  in  their  appearance,  and  so  neatly  dressed,  that 
I  might  almost  have  mistaken  them  for  visitors. 

We  had  a  very  pleasant  hour  or  two  with  the  family, 
w^hich  I  enjoyed  exceedingly.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Douglas  were 
fuU  of  the  most  considerate  kindness,  and  some  of  the  daugli- 
ters  had  intimate  acquaintances  in  America.  I  enjoy  these 
little  glimpses  into  family  circles  more  than  any  thing  else ; 
there  is  no  warmth  like  fireside  warmth. 

In  the  evening  the  rooms  were  filled.  I  should  think  all 
the  clergymen  of  Edinburgh  must  have  been  there,  for  I  was 
introduced  to  ministers  without  number.  The  Scotch  have  a 
good  many  little  ways  that  are  like  ours  ;  they  call  their  clergy 
ministers,  as  we  do.  There  were  many  persons  from  ancient 
families,  distinguished  in  Scottish  history  both  for  rank  and 
piety ;  among  others.  Lady  Carstairs,  Sir  Henry  Moncrief 
and  lady.  There  was  also  the  Countess  of  Gainsborough, 
one  of  the  ladies  of  the  queen's  household,  a  very  beautiful 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       171 

woman  with  cliarming  manners,  reminding  one  of  the  line  of 
Pope  — 

"Graceful  ease,  and  sweetness  void  of  pride." 

I  was  introduced  to  Dr.  John  Brown,  who  is  reckoned  one 
of  the  best  exegetical  scholars  in  Europe.  He  is  small  of 
stature,  sprightly,  and  pleasant  in  manners,  with  a  high,  bald 
forehead  and  snow-wliite  hair. 

There  were  also  many  members  of  the  faculty  of  the  uni- 
versity. I  talked  a  little  with  Dr.  Guthrie,  whom  I  described 
in  a  former  letter.  I  told  liim  that  one  tiling  which  had  been 
an  agreeable  disappointment  to  rae  was,  the  apparent  cordi- 
ality between  the  members  of  the  Free  and  the  National 
church.  He  seemed  to  think  that  the  wounds  of  the  old  con- 
flict were,  to  a  great  extent,  healed.  He  spoke  in  high  terms 
of  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  her  affability,  kindness,  and 
considerateness  to  the  poor.  I  forget  from  whom  I  received 
the  anecdote,  but  somebody  told  me  this  of  her  —  that,  one  of 
her  servants  having  lost  a  relative,  she  had  left  a  party  where 
she  was  engaged,  and  gone  in  the  plainest  attire  and  quietest 
way  to  attend  the  funeral.  It  was  remai-ked  upon  as  showing 
her  considerateness  for  the  feelings  of  those  in  inferior  po- 
sitions. 

About  nine  o'clock  we  left  to  go  to  the  temperance  soiree. 
It  was  in  the  same  place,  and  conducted  in  the  same  way,  with 
the  others  which  I  have  described.  The  lord  provost  pre- 
sided, and  one  or  two  of  the  working  men  who  spoke  in  the 
former  soiree  made  speeches,  and  very  good  ones  too.  The 
meeting  was  greatly  enhvened  by  the  presence  and  speech  of 
the  jovial  Lord  Conynghame,  who  amused  us  all  by  the  gal- 
lant manner  in  which  he  expressed  the  warmth  of  Scottish 


172       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

welcome  towards  "  our  American  guests."  If  it  liad  been  in 
the  old  times  of  Scottish  hospitality,  he  said,  he  should  have 
proposed  a  lumper  three  times  three ;  but  as  that  could  not  be 
done  in  a  temperance  meeting,  he  proposed  three  cheers,  in 
which  he  led  off  with  a  hearty  good  will. 

All  that  the  Scotch  people  need  now  for  the  prosperity  of 
their  country  is  the  temperance  reformation  ;  and  undoubtedly 
they  will  have  it.  They  have  good  sense  and  strength  of 
mind  enough  to  work  out  whatever  they  choose. 

We  went  home  tired  enough. 

The  next  day  we  had  a  few  calls  to  make,  and  an  invitation 
from  Lady  Drummond  to  visit  "  classic  Hawthornden."  Ac- 
cordingly, in  the  forenoon,  Mr.  S.  and  I  called  first  on  Lord 
and  Lady  Gainsborough ;  though  she  is  one  of  the  queen's 
household,  she  is  staying  here  at  Edinburgh,  and  the  queen  at 
Osborne.  I  infer  therefore  that  the  appointment  includes  no 
very  onerous  duties.  The  Earl  of  Gainsborough  is  the  eld- 
est brother  of  Rev.  Baptist  W.  Noel. 

Lady  Gainsborough  is  the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Roden, 
who  is  an  Irish  lord  of  the  very  strictest  Calvinistic  persuasion. 
He  is  a  devout  man,  and  for  many  years,  we  were  told, 
maintained  a  Calvinistic  church  of  the  English  establishment 
in  Paris.  While  Mr.  S.  talked  with  Lord  Gainsborough,  I 
talked  with  his  lady,  and  Lady  Roden,  who  was  present.  Lady 
Gainsborough  inquired  about  our  schools  for  the  poor,  and 
how  they  were  conducted.  I  reflected  a  moment,  and  then 
answered  that  we  had  no  schools  for  the  poor  as  such,  but  the 
common  school  was  open  alike  to  all  classes.* 

*  Had  I  known  all  about  New  York  and  Boston  which  recent  exam- 
inations have  developed,  I  should  have  answered  very  differently.  The  fact 
is,  that  we  in  America  can  no  longer  congratulate  ourselves  on  not  hav 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       173 

In  England  and  Scotland,  in  all  classes,  from  the  queen 
downward,  no  movements  are  so  popular  as  those  for  the 
education  and  elevation  of  the  poor ;  one  is  seldom  in  com- 
pany without  hearing  the  conversation  turn  upon  them. 

The  conversation  generally  turned  upon  the  condition  of 
servants  in  America.  I  said  that  one  of  the  principal  difficul- 
ties in  American  housekeeping  proceeded  from  the  fact,  that 
there  were  so  many  other  openings  of  profit  that  very  few 
were  found  willing  to  assume  the  position  of  the  servant,  ex- 
cept as  a  temporary  expedient ;  in  fact,  that  the  whole  idea  of 
service  was  radically  different,  it  being  a  mere  temporary  con- 
tract to  render  certain  services,  not  differing  essentially  from 
the  contract  of  the  mechanic  or  tradesman.  The  ladies  said 
they  thought  there  could  be  no  family  feehng  among  servants 
if  that  was  the  case ;  and  I  replied  that,  generally  speaking, 
there  was  none  ;  that  old  and  attached  family  servants  in  the 
free  states  were  rare  exceptions. 

This,  I  know,  must  look,  to  persons  in  old  countries,  like  a 
hard  and  discouraging  feature  of  democracy.  I  regard  it, 
however,  as  only  a  temporary  difficulty.  Many  institutions 
among  us  are  in  a  transition  state.  Gradually  the  whole 
subject  of  the  relations  of  labor  and  the  industrial  callings  will 
assume  a  new  form  in  America,  and  though  we  shall  never  be 
able  to  command  the  kind  of  service  secured  in  aristocratic 
countries,  yet  we  shall  have  that  which  will  be  as  faithful  and 
efficient.  If  domestic  service  can  be  made  as  pleasant,  profit- 
able, and  respectable  as  any  of  the  industrial  callings,  it  will 
soon  become  as  permanent. 

ing  a  degraded  and  miserable  class  in  our  cities,  and  it  will  be  seen  to 
be  necessary  for  us  to  arouse  to  the  very  same  efforts  which  have  been 
so  successfully  making  in  England. 
15* 


174  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  Sir  William  Hamilton  and  ladj.  Sir 
William  is  the  able  successor  of  Dugald  Stewart  and  Dr. 
Brown  in  the  chair  of  intellectual  philosophy.  His  writings 
liave  had  a  wide  circulation  in  America.  He  is  a  man  of 
noble  j>resence,  though  we  were  sorry  to  see  that  he  was  suf- 
fering from  ill  health.  It  seems  to  me  that  Scotland  bears 
that  relation  to  England,  with  regard  to  metaphysical  inquiry, 
that  New  England  does  to  the  rest  of  the  United  States.  If 
one  counts  over  the  names  of  distinguished  metaphysicians, 
the  Scotch,  as  compared  with  the  English,  number  three  to 
one  —  Reid,  Stewart,  Brown,  all  Scotchmen. 

Sir  William  still  writes  and  lectures.  He  and  Mr.  S.  were 
soon  discoursing  on  German,  English,  Scotch,  and  American 
metaphysics,  while  I  was  talking  with  Lady  Hamilton  and  her 
daughters.  After  we  came  away  Mr.  S.  said,  that  no  man 
living  had  so  thoroughly  understood  and  analyzed  the  Ger- 
man philosophy.  He  said  that  Sir  William  spoke  of  a  call 
which  he  had  received  from  Professor  Park,  of  Andover, 
and  expressed  himself  in  high  terms  of  his  metaphysical 
powers. 

After  that  we  went  to  call  on  George  Combe,  the  physiol- 
ogist. We  found  him  and  Mrs.  Combe  in  a  pleasant,  sunny 
parlor,  where,  among  other  objects  of  artistic  interest,  we  saw 
a  very  fine  engraving  of  Mrs.  Siddons.  I  was  not  aware  until 
after  leaving  that  Mrs.  Combe  is  her  daughter.  Mr.  Combe, 
though  somewhat  advanced,  seems  full  of  life  and  animation, 
and  conversed  with  a  great  deal  of  wannth  and  interest  on 
America,  where  he  made  a  tour  some  years  since.  Like  other 
men  in  Europe  who  sympathize  in  our  progress,  he  was  san- 
guine in  the  hope  that  the  downfall  of  slavery  must  come  at 
no  distant  date. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       175 

After  a  pleasant  chat  here  we  came  home ;  and  after  an  in- 
terval of  rest  the  carriage  was  at  the  door  for  Hawthornden. 
It  is  about  seven  miles  out  from  Edinburgh.  It  is  a  most 
romantic  spot,  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Esk,  now  the  seat  of 
Sir  James  Walker  Drummond.  Scott  has  sung  in  the  ballad 
of  the  Gray  Brother,  — 

**  Sweet  arc  the  paths,  O,  passing  sweet, 
By  Esk's  fair  streams  that  run, 
O'er  airy  steep,  through  copse-woods  deep, 
Impervious  to  the  sun. 

Who  knows  not  Melville's  beechy  grove. 

And  Roslin's  rocky  glen, 
Dalkeith,  which  all  the  virtues  love, 

And  classic  Hawthornden  ?  " 

"  Melville's  beechy  grove "  is  an  allusion  to  the  grounds  of 
Lord  Melville,  through  which  we  drove  on  our  way.  The 
beech  trees  here  are  magnificent ;  fully  equal  to  any  trees  of 
the  sort  which  I  have  seen  in  our  American  forests,  and  they 
were  in  full  leaf.  They  do  not  grow  so  high,  but  have  more 
breadth  and  a  wider  sweep  of  branches  ;  on  the  whole  they 
are  well  worthy  of  a  place  in  song. 

I  know  in  my  childhood  I  often  used  to  wish  that  I  could 
live  in  a  ruined  castle ;  and  this  Hawthornden  would  be 
the  very  beau  ideal  of  one  as  a  romantic  dwelling-place. 
It  is  an  old  castellated  house,  perched  on  the  airy  verge  of 
a  precipice,  directly  over  the  beautiful  River  Esk,  looking 
down  one  of  the  most  romantic  glens  in  Scotland.  Part  of  it 
is  in  ruins,  and,  hung  with  wreaths  of  ivy,  it  seems  to  stand  just 
to  look  picturesque.  The  house  itself,  with  its  quaint,  high 
gables,  and  gray,  antique  walls,  appears  old  enough  to  take 


176 


SUNNY  MEMOKIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 


you  back  to  tne  times  of  William  Wallace.  It  is  situated 
within  an  liour's  walk  of  Roslin  Castle  and  Chapel,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  poetic  architectural  remains  in  Scot- 
land. 

Our  drive  to  the  place  was  charming.  It  was  a  showery 
day ;  but  -every  few  moments  the  sun  blinked  out,  smiling 
through  the  falling  rain,  and  making  the  wet  leaves  glitter, 
and  the  raindrops  wink  at  each  other  in  the  most  sociable 
manner  possible.      Arrived  at   the   house,  our  friend.  Miss 

S ,  took  us  into  a  beautiful  parlor  overhanging  the  glen, 

each  window  of  which  commanded  a  picture  better  than  was 
ever  made  on  canvas. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       177 

We  had  a  little  chat  with  Lady  Drummond,  and  then  we 
went  down  to  examine  the  caverns,  - —  for  there  are  caverns 
under  the  house,  with  long  galleries  and  passages  running 
from  them  through  the  rocks,  some  way  down  the  river. 
Several  apartments  are  hollowed  out  here  in  the  rock  on 
which  the  house  is  founded,  which  they  told  us  belonged  to 
Bruce ;  the  tradition  being,  that  he  was  hidden  here  for  some 
months.  There  was  his  bed  room,  dining  room,  sitting  room, 
and  a  very  curious  apartment  where  the  walls  were  all  honey- 
combed into  little  partitions,  which  they  called  his  library, 
these  little  partitions  being  his  book  shelves.  There  are  small 
loophole  windows  in  these  apartments,  where  you  can  look 
up  and  down  the  glen,  and  enjoy  a  magnificent  prospect.  For 
my  part,  I  thought  if  I  were  Bruce,  sitting  there  with  a  book 
in  my  lap,  listening  to  the  gentle  brawl  of  the  Esk,  looking  up 
and  down  the  glen,  watching  the  shaking  raindrops  on  the 
oaks,  the  birches  and  beeches,  I  should  have  thought  that  was 
better  than  fighting,  and  that  my  pleasant  little  cave  was  as 
good  an  arbor  on  the  Hill  Difficulty  as  ever  mortal  man  en- 
joyed. 

There  is  a  ponderous  old  two-handed  sword  kept  here,  said 
to  have  belonged  to  Sir  "William  Wallace.  It  is  considerably 
shorter  than  it  was  originally,  but,  resting  on  its  point,  it 
reached  to  the  chin  of  a  good  six  foot  gentleman  of  our  party. 
The  handle  is  made  of  the  horn  of  a  sea-horse,  (if  you  know 
what  that  is,)  and  has  a  heavy  iron  ball  at  the  end.  It  must 
altogether  have  weighed  some  ten  or  twelve  pounds.  Think 
of  a  man  hewing  away  on  men  with  this  ! 

There  is  a  w^ell  in  this  cavern,  down  which  we  were 
directed  to  look  and  observe  a  hole  in  the  side ;  this  we  were 
told  was  the  entrance  to  another  set  of  caverns  and  chambers 


178       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

under  those  in  which  we  were,  and  to  passages  which  extended 
down  and  opened  out  into  the  valley.  In  the  olden  days  the 
approach  to  these  caverns  was  not  through  the  house,  but 
through  tlie  side  of  a  deep  well  sunk  in  the  court  yard,  which 
communicates  through  a  subterranean  passage  with  this  well. 
Those  seeking  entrance  were  let  down  by  a  windlass  into  the 
well  in  the  court  yard,  and  drawn  up  by  a  windlass  into  this 
cavern.  There  was  no  such  accommodation  at  present,  but 
we  were  told  some  enterprising  tourists  had  explored  the  lower 
caverns.  Pleasant  kind  of  times  those  old  days  must  have 
been,  when  houses  had  to  be  built  like  a  rabbit  burrow,  with 
all  these  accommodations  for  concealment  and  escape. 

After  exploring  the  caverns  we  came  up  into  the  parlors 
again,  and  Miss  S.  showed  me  a  Scottish  album,  in  which 
were  all  sorts  of  sketches,  memorials,  autographs,  and  other 
such  matters.  "What  interested  me  more,  she  was  making  a 
collection  of  Scottish  ballads,  words  and  tunes.  I  told  her 
that  I  had  noticed,  since  I  had  been  in  Scotland,  that  the 
young  ladies  seemed  to  take  very  little  interest  in  the  national 
Scotch  airs,  and  were  all  devoted  to  Italian ;  moreover,  that 
the  Scotch  ballads  and  memories,  which  so  interested  me, 
seemed  to  have  very  little  interest  for  people  generally  in 
Scotland.  Miss  S.  was  warm  enough  in  her  zeal  to  make  up 
a  considerable  account,  and  so  we  got  on  well  together. 

"While  we  were  sitting,  chatting,  two  young  ladies  came  in, 
who  had  walked  up  the  glen  despite  the  showery  day.  They 
were  protected  by  good,  substantial  outer  garments,  of  a  kind 
of  shag  or  plush,  and  so  did  not  fear  the  rain.  I  wanted  to 
walk  down  to  Roslin  Castle,  but  the  party  told  me  there  would 
not  be  time  this  afternoon,  as  we  should  have  to  return  at  a 
certain  hour.     I  should  not  have  been  reconciled  to  this,  had 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       179 

not  another  excursion  been  proposed  for  tlie  purpose  of  ex- 
ploring Roslin. 

However,  I  determined  to  go  a  little  way  down  the  glen, 
and  get  a  distant  view  of  it,  and  my  fair  friends,  the  young 
ladies,  offered  to  accompany  me ;  so  off  we  started  down  the 
winding  paths,  which  were  cut  among  the  banks  overhanging 
the  Esk.  The  ground  was  starred  over  with  patches  of  pale- 
yellow  primroses,  and  for  the  first  time  I  saw  the  heather, 
spreading  over  rocks  and  matting  itself  around  the  roots  of 
trees.  My  companions,  to  whom  it  was  the  commonest  thing 
in  the  world,  could  hardly  appreciate  the  delight  which  I  felt 
in  looking  at  it ;  it  was  not  in  flower ;  I  believe  it  does  not 
blossom  till  some  time  in  July  or  August.  We  have  often 
seen  it  in  greenhouses,  and  it  is  so  hardy  that  it  is  singular 
it  will  not  grow  \\dld  in  America. 

"We  walked,  ran,  and  scrambled  to  an  eminence  which  com- 
manded a  view  of  Roslin  Chapel,  the  only  view,  I  fear,  w^hich 
will  ever  gladden  my  eyes,  for  the  promised  expedition  to  it 
dissolved  itself  into  mist.  When  on  the  hill  top,  so  that  I 
could  see  the  chapel  at  a  distance,  I  stood  thmking  over  the 
ballad  of  Harold,  in  the  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  and  the 
fate  of  the  lovely  Rosabel,  and  saying  over  to  myself  the 
last  verses  of  the  ballad :  — 

"  O'er  Roslin,  all  that  dreary  night, 

A  wondrous  blaze  was  seen  to  gleam  ; 
'Twas  broader  than  the  watchfire's  light, 
And  redder  than  the  bright  moonbeam. 

It  glared  on  Roslin's  castled  rock, 

It  ruddied  all  the  copsewood  glen  ; 
'Twas  seen  from  Deyden's  groves  of  oak, 

And  seen  from  cavern' d  Hawthornden. 


180  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOUEIGN    LANDS. 

Seemed  all  on  fire  that  chapel  proud, 

"Where  Roslin's  chiefs  uncoffincd  lie, 
Each  baron,  for  a  sable  shroud, 

Sheathed  in  his  iron  panoply. 

Seemed  all  on  fire  within,  around, 

Deep  sacristy  and  altar's  pale  ; 
Shone  every  pillar  foliage-bound, 

And  glimmered  all  the  dead  men's  mail. 

Blazed  battlement  and  pinnet  high, 

Blazed  every  rose-carved  buttress  fair, 
So  will  they  blaze,  when  fate  is  nigh 

The  lordly  line  of  high  St.  Clair. 

There  are  twenty  of  Roslin's  barons  bold 

Lie  buried  within  that  proud  chapelle  ; 
Each  one  the  holy  vault  doth  hold  ; 

But  the  sea  holds  lovely  RosabcUe  ! 

And  each  St.  Clair  was  buried  there, 

With  candle,  ^nth  book,  and  with  knell ; 

But  the  sea  caves  rung,  and  the  wild  winds  sung, 
The  dirge  of  lovely  Rosabella." 

There  are  many  allusions  in  this  which  show  Scott's  minute 
habits  of  observation ;  for  instance,  these  two  lines  :  — 

"  Blazed  battlement  and  pinnet  high, 

Blazed  every  rose-carved  buttress  fair." 

Every  buttress,  battlement,  and  projection  of  the  exterior 
is  incrusted  with  the  most  elaborate  floral  and  leafy  carving, 
among  which  the  rose  is  often  repeated,  from  its  suggesting, 
by  similarity  of  sound,  Roslin. 

Again,  this  line  — 

"  Shone  every  pillar  foliage-bound  "  — 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       181 

suggests  to  the  mind  the  profusion  and  elaborateness  of  the 
leafy  decorations  in  the  inside.  Among  these,  one  pillar,  gar- 
landed with  spiral  wreaths  of  carved  foliage,  is  called  the 
"Apprentice's  Pillar;"  the  tradition  being,  that  while  the  mas- 
ter was  gone  to  Rome  to  get  some  further  hints  on  executing 
the  plan,  a  precocious  young  mason,  whom  he  left  at  home, 
completed  it  in  liis  absence.  The  master  builder  summarily 
knocked  him  on  the  head,  as  a  warning  to  all  progressive 
young  men  not  to  grow  wiser  than  their  teachers.  Tradition 
points  out  the  heads  of  the  master  and  workmen  among  the 
corbels.  So  you  see,  whereas  in  old  Greek  times  people  used 
to  point  out  their  celebrities  among  the  stars,  and  gave  a  de- 
funct hero  a  place  in  the  constellations,  in  the  middle  ages 
he  only  got  a  place  among  the  corbels. 

I  am  increasingly  sorry  that  I  was  beguiled  out  of  my  per- 
sonal examination  of  this  chapel,  since  I  have  seen  the  plates 
of  it  in  my  Baronial  Sketches.  It  is  the  rival  of  Melrose, 
but  more  elaborate ;  in  fact,  it  is  a  perfect  cataract  of  archi- 
tectural vivacity  and  ingenuity,  as  defiant  of  any  rules  of 
criticism  and  art  as  the  leaf-embowered  arcades  and  arches  of 
our  American  forest  cathedrals.  From  the  comparison  of  the 
plates  of  the  engravings,  I  should  judge  there  was  less  deli- 
cacy of  taste,  and  more  exuberance  of  invention,  than  in  Mel- 
rose. One  old  prosaic  commentator  on  it  says  that  it  is  quite 
remarkable  that  there  are  no  two  cuts  in  it  precisely  alike ; 
each  buttress,  window,  and  pillar  is  unique,  though  with  such 
a  general  resemblance  to  each  other  as  to  deceive  the  eye. 

It  was  built  in  144G,  by  William  St.  Clair,  who  was  Prince 

of  Orkney,   Duke  of  Oldenburgh,  Lord  of  Roslin,  Earl  of 

Caithness  and  Strathearn,  and  so  on  ad  infinitum.     He  was 

called  the  "  Seemly  St.  Clair,"  from  his  noble  deportment  and 

VOL.  I.  IG 


182  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

elegant  manners ;  resided  in  royal  splendor  at  this  Castle  of 
Roslin,  and  kept  a  court  there  as  Prince  of  Orkney.  His 
table  -was  served  with  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  and  he 
had  one  lord  for  his  master  of  household,  one  for  his  cup 
bearer,  and  one  for  his  cai'ver.  His  princess,  Elizabeth 
Douglas,  was  served  by  seventy-five  gentlewomen,  fifty-three 
of  whom  were  daughters  of  noblemen,  and  they  were  at- 
tended in  all  their  excursions  by  a  retinue  of  two  hundred 
gentlemen. 

These  very  woods  and  streams,  which  now  hear  nothing  but 
the  murmurs  of  the  Esk,  were  all  alive  with  the  bustle  of  a 
court  in  those  days. 

The  castle  was  now  distinctly  visible  ;  it  stands  on  an  insu- 
lated rock,  two  hundred  and  twenty  yards  from  the  chapel.  It 
has  under  it  a  set  of  excavations  and  caverns  almost  equally 
curious  with  those  of  Hawthornden  ;  there  are  still  some  toler- 
ably preserved  rooms  in  it,  and  Mbs.  AV.  informed  me  that 
they  had  once  rented  these  rooms  for  a  summer  residence. 
"What  a  delightful  idea !  The  barons  of  Roslin  were  all  buried 
under  this  Chapel,  in  their  armor,  as  Scott  describes  in  the 
poem.  And  as  this  family  were  altogether  more  than  common 
folks,  it  is  perfectly  credible  that  on  the  death  of  one  of  them 
a  miraculous  light  should  illuminate  the  castle,  chapel,  and 
whole  neighborhood. 

It  appears,  by  certain  ancient  documents,  that  this  high  and 
mighty  house  of  St.  Clair  were  in  a  particular  manner  j^at- 
rons  of  the  masonic  craft.  It  is  known  that  the  trade  of 
masonry  was  then  in  the  hands  of  a  secret  and  mysteri- 
ous order,  from  whom  probably  our  modern  masons  have 
descended. 

The  St.  Clair  fixmily,  it  appears,  were  at  the  head  of  this 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       183 

order,  with  power  to  appoint  officers  and  places  of  meeting,  to 
punish  transgressors,  and  otherwise  to  have  the  superintend- 
ence of  all  their  affairs.  This  fact  may  account  for  such  a 
perfect  Geyser  of  architectural  ingenuity  as  has  been  poured 
out  upon  their  family  chapel,  which  was  designed  for  a  chef- 
d'ceuvre,  a  concentration  of  the  best  that  could  be  done  to  the 
honor  of  their  patron's  family.  The  documents  which  authen- 
ticate this  statement  are  described  in  Billings's  Baronial  An- 
tiquities.    So  much  for  "  the  lordly  line  of  high  St.  Clair." 

When  we  came  back  to  the  house,  and  after  taking  coffee 
in  the  draA\dng  room.  Miss  S.  took  me  over  the  interior,  a 
most  delightful  place,  full  of  all  sorts  of  out-of-the-way  snugge- 
ries, and  comfortable  corners,  and  poetic  irregularities.  There 
she  showed  me  a  picture  of  one  of  the  early  ancestors  of  the 
family,  the  poet  Drummond,  hanging  in  a  room  which  tradition 
has  assigned  to  him.  It  represents  a  man  with  a  dark,  Span- 
ish-looking face,  with  the  broad  Elizabethan  ruff,  earnest,  mel- 
ancholy eyes,  and  an  air  half  cavalier,  half  poet,  bringing  to 
mind  the  chivah'ous,  graceful,  fastidious  bard,  accomphshed 
scholar,  and  courtier  of  his  time,  the  devout  behever  in  the 
divine  right  of  kings,  and  of  the  immunities  and  privileges  of 
the  upper  class  generally.  This  Drummond,  it  seems,  was  early 
engaged  to  a  fair  young  lady,  whose  death  rendered  his  beauti- 
ful retreat  of  Hawthornden  insupportable  to  him,  and  of  course, 
like  other  persons  of  romance,  he  sought  refuge  in  foreign 
travel,  went  abroad,  and  remained  eight  years.  Afterwards 
he  came  back,  married,  and  lived  here  for  some  time. 

Among  other  traditions  of  the  place,  it  is  said  that  Ben 
Jonson  once  walked  all  the  way  from  London  to  visit  the  poet 
in  this  retreat ;  and  a  tree  is  still  shown  on  the  grounds  under 
which  they  are  said  to  have  met.      It  seems  that  Ben's  habits 


184       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

were  rather  too  noisy  and  convivial  to  meet  altogether  the 
taste  of  his  fastidious  and  aristocratic  host ;  and  so  he  had  his 
own  thouirhts  of  him,  which,  being  written  down  m  a  diary, 
were  published  by  some  indiscreet  executor,  after  they  were 
both  dead. 

We  were  shown  an  old,  original  edition  of  the  poems.  I 
must  confess  I  never  read  them.  Since  I  have  seen  the  ma- 
terial the  poet  and  novelist  has  on  this  ground,  all  I  wonder  at 
is,  that  there  have  not  been  a  thousand  poets  to  one.  I  should 
have  thought  they  would  have  been  as  plenty  as  the  mavis  and 
merle,  and  sprouting  out  every  where,  like  the  primroses  and 
heather  bells. 

Our  American  literature  is  unfortunate  in  this  respect  — 
that  our  nation  never  had  any  childhood,  our  day  never  hatl 
any  dawn  ;  so  we  have  very  little  traditionary  lore  to  work  over. 

We  came  home  about  five  o'clock,  and  had  some  company  in 
the  evening.  Some  time  to-day  I  had  a  little  chat  with  Mrs.  W. 
on  the  Quakers.  She  is  a  cultivated  and  thoughtful  woman, 
and  seemed  to  take  quite  impartial  views,  and  did  not  con- 
sider her  own  sect  as  by  any  means  the  only  form  of  Christian- 
ity, but  maintained  —  w^  hat  every  sensible  person  must  grant,  I 
think  —  that  it  has  had  an  important  mission  in  society,  even 
in  its  peculiarities.  I  inferred  from  her  conversation  that  the 
system  of  plain  dress,  maintained  with  the  nicety  which  they 
always  use,  is  by  no  means  a  saving  in  a  pecuniary  point  of 
view.  She  stated  that  one  vounu;  friend,  who  had  been  brou.irht 
up  in  this  persuasion,  gave  it  as  her  reason  for  not  adopting  its 
peculiar  dress,  that  she  could  not  afford  it ;  that  is  to  say,  that 
for  a  given  sum  of  money  she  could  make  a  more  creditable 
appearance  were  she  allow^ed  the  range  of  form,  shape,  and 
trimming,  which  the  ordinary  style  of  dressing  permits. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       185 

I  think  almost  any  lady,  who  knows  the  magical  value  of 
bits  of  trimming,  and  bows  of  ribbon  judiciously  adjusted  in 
critical  locations,  of  inserting,  edging,  and  embroidery,  considered 
as  economic  arts,  must  acknowledge  that  there  is  some  force  in 
the  young  lady's  opinion.  Nevertheless  the  Doric  simplicity 
of  a  Quaker  lady's  dress,  who  is  in  circumstances  to  choose  her 
material,  has  a  peculiar  charm.  As  at  present  advised,  the 
Quaker  ladies  whom  I  have  seen  very  judiciously  adhere  to 
the  spirit  of  plain  attire,  without  troubling  themselves  to  main- 
tain the  exact  letter.  For  instance,  a  plain  straw  cottage,  w^  ith 
its  white  satin  ribbon,  is  sometimes  allowed  to  take  the  place 
of  the  close  silk  bonnet  of  Fox's  day. 

For  my  part,  while  I  reverence  the  pious  and  unworldly 
spirit  wliich  dictated  the  peculiar  forms  of  the  Quaker  sect, 
I  look  for  a  higher  development  of  religion  still,  when  all 
the  beautiful  artistic  faculties  of  the  soul  being  wholly  sancti- 
fied and  offered  up  to  God,  we  shall  no  longer  shun  beauty  in 
any  of  its  forms,  either  in  dress  or  household  adornment,  as  a 
temptation,  but  rather  offer  it  up  as  a  sacrifice  to  Him  who 
has  set  us  the  example,  by  making  every  thing  beautiful  in 
its  season. 

As  to  art  and  letters,  I  find  many  of  my  Quaker  friends 
sympatliizing  in  those  judicious  views  which  were  taken  by 
the  society  of  Friends  in  Philadelphia,  when  Benjamin  West 
developed  a  talent  for  painting,  regarding  such  talent  as  an  in- 
dication of  the  will  of  Him  who  had  bestowed  it.  So  I  find 
many  of  them  taking  pleasure  in  the  poetry  of  Scott,  Longfel- 
low, and  Whittier,  as  developments  of  his  wisdom  who  gives  to 
the  human  soul  its  different  faculties  and  inspirations. 

More  delightful  society  than  a  cultivated  Quaker  family 
cannot  be  found :  the  truthfulness,  genuineness,  and  simplicity  of 
IG* 


186       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

character,  albeit  not  •wanting,  at  projoer  times,  a  shrewd  dash 
of  worldly  wisdom,  are  very  refreshing. 

]Mrs  ^y.  and  I  went  to  the  studio  of  llervcy,  the  Scotch  art- 
ist. Both  he  and  his  wife  receivecj  us  with  great  kindness.  I 
saw  there  his  Covenanters  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper  — 
a  picture  which  I  could  not  look  at  critically  on  account  of  the 
tears  which  kept  blinding  my  eyes.  It  represents  a  bleak  hol- 
low of  a  mountain  side,  where  a  few  trembhng  old  men  and 
women,  a  few  young  girls  and  children,  with  one  or  two  young 
men,  are  grouped  together,  in  that  moment  of  hushed  prayer- 
ful repose  which  precedes  the  breaking  of  the  sacramental 
bread.  There  is  something  touching  always  about  that  worn, 
weary  look  of  rest  and  comfort  with  v»hich  a  sick  child  lies 
down  on  a  mother's  bosom,  and  like  this  is  the  expression 
with  which  these  hunted  fugitives  nestle  themselves  be- 
neath the  shadow  of  their  Redeemer ;  mothers  who  had  seen 
their  sons  "  tortured,  not  accepting  deliverance  "  —  Avives 
who  had  seen  the  blood  of  their  husbands  poured  out  on 
their  doorstone  —  children  wuth  no  father  but  God  —  and 
bereaved  old  men,  from  whom  every  child  had  been  rent  —  all 
gathering  for  comfort  round  the  cross  of  a  suffering  Lord.  Li 
such  hours  they  found  strength  to  suffer,  and  to  say  to  every 
allurement  of  worldly  sense  and  pleasure  as  the  drowning  Mar- 
garet Wilson  said  to  the  tempters  in  her  hour  of  martyrdom, 
"  I  am  Christ's  child  —  let  me  go." 

Another  most  touching  picture  of  Ilervey's  commemorates 
a  later  scene  of  Scottish  devotion  and  martyr  endurance 
scarcely  below  that  of  the  days  of  the  Covenant.  It  is  called 
Leaving  the  Manse. 

We  in  America  all  felt  to  our  heart's  core  a  sympathy 
with    that    high    endurance    which    led    so    many   Scottish 


SUNNY    ME5I0KIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  187 

ministers  to  forsake  their  churches,  their  salaries,  the  happy- 
homes  where  their  children  were  born  and  their  days  passed, 
rather  than  violate  a  principle. 

This  picture  is  a  monument  of  this  struggle.  There  rises 
the  manse  overgrown  with  its  flowering  vines,  the  image  of  a 
lovely,  peaceful  home.  The  minister's  wife,  a  pale,  lovely 
creature,  is  just  locking  the  door,  out  of  which  her  husband 
and  family  have  passed  —  leaving  it  forever.  The  husband 
and  father  is  supporting  on  his  arm  an  aged,  feeble  mother, 
and  the  weeping  childi-en  are  gathering  sorrowfully  round 
him,  each  bearing  away  some  memorial  of  their  home ;  one 
has  the  bird  cage.  But  the  unequalled  look  of  high,  un- 
shaken patience,  of  heroic  faith,  and  love  which  seems  to 
spread  its  light  over  every  face,  is  what  I  cannot  paint. 
The  painter  told  me  that  the  faces  were  portraits,  and  the 
scene  by  no  means  imaginary. 

But  did  not  these  sacrifices  bring  with  them,  even  in  their 
bitterness,  a  joy  the  world  knoweth  not?  Yes,  they  did. 
I  know  it  full  well,  not  vainly  did  Christ  say,  There  is  no 
man  that  hath  left  houses  or  lands  for  my  sake  and  the 
gospel's  but  he  shall  receive  manifold  more  in  this  life. 

Mr.  Hervey  kindly  gave  me  the  engraving  of  his  Cov- 
enanters' Sacrament,  which  I  shall  keep  as  a  memento  of  him 
and  of  Scotland. 

His  style  of  painting  is  forcible  and  individual.  He  showed 
us  the  studies  that  he  has  taken  with  his  palette  and  brushes 
out  on  the  mountains  and  moors  of  Scotland,  painting  moss, 
and  stone,  and  brook,  just  as  it  is.  This  is  the  way  to  be 
a  national  painter. 

One  pleasant  evening,  not  long  before  we  left  Edinburgh, 
C,    S.,   and   I   walked  out    for   a   quiet    stroll.     We   went 


188  SUNNY    MEMOIIIES    OF    FOREIGN    LAND3. 

through  the  Grass  Market,  where  so  many  dcfemlers  of  the 
Covenant  have  sullered,  and  turned  into  tlie  churcliyard  of  the 
Gray  Friars  ;  a  gray,  old  Gothic  building,  with  multitudes  of 
graves  around  it.  Here  we  saw  the  tombs  of  Allan  Ramsay 
and  many  other  distinguished  characters.  The  grim,  uncouth 
sculpture  on  the  old  graves,  and  the  quaint  epitaphs,  interested 
me  mucli ;  but  I  was  most  moved  by  coming  quite  unexpect- 
edly on  an  ivy-grown  slab,  in  the  wall,  commemorating  the 
martyrs  of  the  Covenant.  The  inscription  struck  me  so  much, 
that  I  got  C to  copy  it  in  his  memorandum  book. 

"  Halt,  passenger!  take  heed  what  you  do  see. 
Here  lies  interred  the  dust  of  those  who  stood 
'Gainst  perjury,  resisting  unto  blood, 
Adhering  to  the  Covenant,  and  laws 
Establishing  the  same  ;  which  was  the  cause 
Their  lives  were  sacrificed  unto  the  lust 
Of  prelatists  abjured,  though  here  their  dust 
Lies  mixed  with  murderers  and  other  crew 
Whom  justice  justly  did  to  death  pursue  ; 
But  as  for  thera,  no  cause  was  to  be  found 
Worthy  of  death,  but  only  they  were  found 
Constant  and  steadfast,  witnessing 
For  the  prerogatives  of  Christ  their  King ; 
Which  truths  were  sealed  by  famous  Guthrie's  head. 
And  all  along  to  Mr.  Renwick's  blood 
They  did  endure  the  wrath  of  enemies, 
Reproaches,  torments,  deaths,  and  injuries  ; 
But  yet  they're  those  who  from  such  troubles  came 
And  triumph  now  in  glory  with  the  Lamb. 

"  From  May  27,  1661,  when  the  Marquis  of  Argyle  was  beheaded,  to 
February  17, 1688,  when  James  Renwick  suffered,  there  were  some  eighteen 
thousand  one  way  or  other  murdered,  of  whom  were  executed  at  Edinburgh 
about  one  hundred  noblemen,  ministers,  and  gentlemen,  and  others,  noble 
martyrs  for  Christ." 


SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS.  189 

Despite  the  roughness  of  the  verse,  tliere  is  a  tlirilling 
power  in  these  lines.  People  in  gilded  houses,  on  silken 
eouclies,  at  ease  among  books,  and  friends,  and  literary  pas- 
times, may  sneer  at  the  Covenanters ;  it  is  much  easier  to 
sneer  than  to  die  for  truth  and  right,  as  they  died.  TOiether 
they  were  right  in  all  respects  is  nothing  to  the  purpose  ;  but 
it  is  to  the  purpose  that  in  a  crisis  of  their  country's  history 
they  upheld  a  great  principle  vital  to  her  existence.  Had  not 
these  men  held  up  the  heart  of  Scotland,  and  kept  alive  the 
fire  of  liberty  on  her  altars,  the  very  literature  wliicli  has  been 
used  to  defame  them  could  not  have  had  its  existence.  The 
very  literary  celebrity  of  Scotland  has  grown  out  of  their 
grave ;  for  a  vigorous  and  original  hterature  is  impossible, 
except  to  a  strong,  free,  self-respecting  people.  The  literature 
of  a  people  must  spring  from  the  sense  of  its  nationality ;  and 
nationality  is  impossible  without  self-respect,  and  self-respect 
is  impossible  without  hberty. 

It  is  one  of  the  trials  of  our  mortal  state,  one  of  the  dis- 
ciplmes  of  our  virtue,  that  the  world's  benefactors  and  reform- 
ers are  so  often  without  form  or  comeliness.  The  very  force 
necessary  to  sustain  the  conflict  makes  them  appear  unlovely ; 
they  '•  tread  the  wine  press  alone,  and  of  the  people  there  is 
none  Avith  them."  The  shrieks,  and  groans,  and  agonies  of 
men  wrestling  in  mortal  combat  are  often  not  graceful  or 
gracious ;  but  the  comments  that  the  children  of  the  Puritans, 
and  the  children  of  the  Covenanters,  make  on  the  ungraceful 
and  severe  elements  which  marked  the  struggles  of  their  great 
fathers,  are  as  ill-timed  as  if  a  son,  whom  a  mother  had  just 
borne  from  a  burning  dwelling,  should  criticize  the  shrieks 
with  which  she  sought  him,  and  point  out  to  ridicule  the  di- 
shevelled hair  and  singed  garments  which  show  how  she  strug- 


190  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

gled  for  his  life.  But  these  are  they  -which  are  "sown  in 
weakness,  hut  raised  in  power ;  wliich  are  sown  in  dishonor, 
hut  raised  in  glory  : "  even  in  this  world  they  will  have  their 
judgment  day,  and  their  names  which  went  down  in  the  dust 
like  a  gallant  hanner  trodden  in  the  mire,  shall  rise  again  all 
jjlorious  in  the  sight  of  nations. 

The  evening  sky,  glowing  red,  threw  out  the  bold  outline  of 
the  castle,  and  the  quaint  old  edifices  as  they  seemed  to  look 
down  on  us  silently  from  their  rocky  heights,  and  the  figure 
of  Salisbury  Crags  marked  itself  against  the  red  sky  like  a 
couchant  lion. 

The  time  of  our  sojourn  in  Scotland  had  drawn  towards  its- 
close.  Though  feeble  in  health,  this  visit  to  me  has  been  fuU 
of  enjoyment ;  full  of  lofty,  but  sad  memories ;  fuU  of  sym- 
pathies and  inspirations.  I  think  there  is  no  nobler  land,  and 
I  pray  God  that  the  old  seed  here  sown  in  blood  and  tears 
may  never  be  rooted  out  of  Scotland. 


SUNNY  3ii:mokies  of  forkign  lands.  191 


LETTER    X. 

My  dear  H.  :  — 

It  was  a  rainy,  misty  morning  when  I  left  my  kind  retreat 
and  friends  in  Edinburgh.  Considerate  as  every  body  had 
been  about  imposing  on  my  time  or  strength,  still  you  may 
well  believe  that  I  was  much  exhausted. 

We  left  Edinburgh,  therefore,  with  the  determination  to 
plunge  at  once  into  some  hidden  and  unknown  spot,  where  we 
might  spend  two  or  three  days  quietly  by  ourselves ;  and  remem- 
bering your  Sunday  at  Stratford-on-Avon,  I  proposed  that  we 
should  go  there.  As  Stratford,  however,  is  off  the  railroad 
Hne  we  determined  to  accept  the  invitation,  which  was  lying 
by  us,  from  our  friend  Joseph  Sturge,  of  Birmingham,  and 
take  sanctuary  with  him.  So  we  wrote  on,  intrusting  him 
with  the  secret,  and  charging  him  on  no  account  to  let  any 
one  know  of  our  arrival.  ^ 

"Well  in  the  rail  car,  we  went  whirling  along  by  Preston 
Pans,  where  was  fought  the  celebrated  battle  in  which  Colonel 
Gardiner  was  killed ;  by  Dunbar,  where  Cromwell  told  his 
army  to  "  trust  in  God  and  keep  their  powder  dry  ;"  through 
Berwick-on-the-Tweed  and  Newcastle-on-Tyne ;  by  the  old 
towers  and  gates  of  York,  with  its  splendid  cathedral ;  getting 
a  view  of  Durham  Cathedral  in  the  distance. 

The  country  between  Berwick  and  Newcastle  is  one  of  the 
greatest  manufacturing  districts  of  England,  and  for  smoke, 
smut,  and  gloom,  Pittsburg  and  "Wheeling  bear  no  comparison 


192  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

to  it.  The  English  sky,  always  paler  and  cooler  in  its  tints 
tlian  ours,  here  seems  to  be  turned  into  a  leaden  canopy ;  tall 
chimneys  belch  forth  gloom  and  confusion  ;  houses,  factories, 
fences,  even  trees  and  grass,  look  grim  and  sooty. 

It  is  true  that  people  with  immense  wealth  can  live  in  such 
regions  in  cleanliness  and  elegance  ;  but  how  must  it  be  with 
the  poor  ?  I  know  of  no  one  circumstance  more  unfiivorable 
to  moral  purity  than  the  necessity  of  being  physically  dirty. 
Our  nature  is  so  intensely  symbolical,  that  where  the  outward 
sign  of  defilement  becomes  habitual,  the  inner  is  too  apt  to 
correspond.  I  am  quite  sure  that  before  there  can  be  a 
universal  millennium,  trade  must  be  pursued  in  such  a  way  as 
to  enable  the  working  classes  to  realize  something  of  beauty 
und  purity  in  the  circumstances  of  their  outward  life. 

I  have  heard  there  is  a  law  before  the  British  Parliament, 
whose  operation  is  designed  to  purify  the  air  of  England  by 
introducing  chimneys  which  shall  consume  all  the  sooty  parti- 
cles which  now  float  about,  obscuring  the  air  and  carrying 
dclilcment  with  them.     May  that  day  be  hastened  ! 

At  Newcastle-on-Tyne  and  some  other  places  various 
friends  came  out  to  meet  us,  some  of  whom  presented  us  with 
most  splendid  bouquets  of  hothouse  flowers.  This  region  has 
been  the  seat  of  some  of  the  most  zealous  and  efficient  anti- 
slavery  operations  in  England. 

About  night  our  cars  whizzed  into  the  depot  at  Biraiing- 
liam  ;  but  just  before  we  came  in  a  difficulty  was  started  in 
the  company.  "  Mr.  Sturge  is  to  be  there  waiting  for  us,  but 
he  does  not  know  us,  and  we  don't  know  him  ;  what  is  to  be 

done  ?  "     C insisted  that  he  should  know  him  by  instinct ; 

and  so  after  we  reached  the  depot,  we  told  him  to  sally  out  and 
try.      Sure  enough,  in  a  few  moments  he  pitched  upon  a 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       193 

cheerful,  middle-aged  gentleman,  with  a  moderate  but  not 
decisive  broad  brim  to  his  hat,  and  challenged  him  as  Mi*. 
Sturge ;  the  result  verified  the  truth  that  "  instinct  is  a  great 
matter."  In  a  few  moments  our  new  friend  and  ourselves 
were  snugly  encased  m  a  fly,  trotting  off  as  briskly  as  ever 
we  could  to  his  place  at  Edgbaston,  nobody  a  whit  the  wiser. 
You  do  not  know  how  snug  we  felt  to  think  we  had  done  it 
so  nicely. 

The  carriage  soon  drove  in  upon  a  gravel  walk,  winding 
among  turf,  flowers,  and  shrubs,  where  we  found  opening  to 
us  another  home  as  warm  and  kindly  as  the  one  we  had  just 
left,  made  doubly  interesting  by  the  idea  of  entire  privacy 
and  seclusion. 

After  retiring  to  our  chambers  to  repair  the  ravages  of 
travel,  we  united  in  the  pleasant  supper  room,  where  the  table 
was  laid  before  a  bright  coal  fire :  no  unimportant  feature  this 
fire,  I  can  assure  you,  in  a  raw  cloudy  evening.  A  glass 
door  from  the  supper  room  opened  into  a  conservatory,  bril- 
liant with  pink  and  yellow  azalias,  golden  calceolarias,  and  a 
profusion  of  other  beauties,  whose  names  I  did  not  know. 

The  side  tables  were  strewn  with  books,  and  the  ample  folds 
of  the  drab  curtains,  let  down  over  the  windows,  shut  out  the 
rain,  damp,  and  chill.  When  we  were  gathered  round  the 
table,  Mr.  Sturge  said  that  he  had  somewhat  expected  Ehhu 
Burritt  that  evening,  and  we  all  hoped  he  would  come.  I 
must  not  omit  to  say,  that  the  evening  circle  was  made  more 
attractive  and  agreeable  in  my  eyes  by  the  presence  of  two 
or  three  of  the'  little  people,  who  were  blessed  with  the  rosy 
cheek  of  English  children. 

Mr.  Sturge  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  efficient  of 
the  philanthropists  of  modern  days.     An  air  of  benignity  and 

VOL.    L  17 


194  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

easy  good  nature  veils  and  conceals  in  him  the  most  unflinch- 
ing perseverance  and  energy  of  jiurpose.  He  has  for  many 
years  been  a  zealous  advocate  of  the  antislavery  cause  in 
England,  taking  up  efficiently  the  work  begun  by  Clarkson 
and  "NVilberforce.  He,  with  a  friend  of  the  same  denomina- 
tion, made  a  journey  at  their  own  expense,  to  investigate  the 
workings  of  the  apprentice  system,  by  which  the  act  of 
immediate  emancipation  in  the  West  Indies  was  for  a  while 
delayed.  After  his  return  he  sustained  a  rigorous  examin- 
ation of  seven  days  before  a  committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  the  result  of  which  successfully  demonstrated  the 
abuses  of  that  system,  and  its  entire  inutility  for  preparing 
either  masters  or  servants  for  final  emancipation.  This  evi- 
dence went  as  far  as  any  thing  to  induce  Parliament  to  declare 
immediate  and  entire  emancipation. 

]\Ir.  Sturge  also  has  been  equally  zealous  and  engaged  in 
movements  for  the  ignorant  and  perishing  classes  at  home. 
At  his  own  expense  he  has  sustained  a  private  Farm  School 
for  the  reformation  of  juvenile  offenders,  and  it  has  sometimes 
been  found  that  boys,  whom  no  severity  and  no  punishment 
seemed  to  affect,  have  been  entirely  melted  and  subdued  by 
the  gentler  measures  here  employed.  He  has  also  taken  a 
very  ardent  and  decided  part  in  efforts  for  the  extension  of  the 
j)rinciples  of  peace,  being  a  warm  friend  and  supporter  of 
Eiihu  Burritt. 

The  next  morning  it  was  agreed  that  we  should  take  our 
drive  to  8tratford-on-Avon.  As  yet  this  shrine  of  pilgrims 
stands  a  little  aloof  from  the  bustle  of  modem  progress,  and 
railroad  cars  do  not  run  whistling  and  whisking  with  brisk 
ofliciousness  by  the  old  church  and  the  fanciful  banks  of  the 
Avon. 


SUNNY  3IEM0RIES    OP   FOREIGN    LANDS.  195 

The  country  that  we  were  to  pass  over  was  more  peculiarly 
old  English  ;  that  phase  of  old  English  which  is  destined  soon 
to  pass  av.'ay,  under  the  restless  regenerating  force  of  modern 
progress. 

Our  ride  along  was  a  singular  commixture  of  an  upper  and 
under  current  of  thought.  Deep  down  in  our  hearts  we  Avere 
going  back  to  English  days  ;  the  cumbrous,  quaint,  queer,  old, 
picturesque  times ;  the  dim,  haunted  times  between  cock-crow- 
ing and  morning ;  those  hours  of  national  childhood,  when 
popular  ideas  had  the  confiding  credulity,  the  poetic  vivaci- 
ty, and  versatile  life,  which  distinguish  children  from  grown 
people. 

No  one  can  fail  to  feel,  in  reading  any  of  the  plays  of  Shak- 
speare,  that  he  was  born  in  an  age  of  credulity  and  marvels, 
and  that  the  materials  out  of  which  his  mind  was  woven  were 
dyed  in  the  grain,  in  the  haunted  springs  of  tradition.  It 
would  have  been  as  absolutely  impossible  for  even  himself, 
had  he  been  born  in  the  daylight  of  this  century,  to  have  built 
those  quaint,  Gothic  structures  of  imagination,  and  tinted 
them  with  their  peculiar  coloring  of  marvellousness  and 
mystery,  as  for  a  modern  artist  to  originate  and  execute 
the  weird  designs  of  an  ancient  cathedral.  Both  Gothic 
arcliitecture  and  this  perfection  of  Gothic  poetry  were  the 
springing  and  efflorescence  of  that  age,  impossible  to  grow 
again.  They  were  the  forest  primeval  ;  other  trees  may 
spring  in  their  room,  trees  as  mighty  and  as  fair,  but  not 
such  trees. 

So,  as  we  rode  along,  our  speculations  and  thoughts  in  the 
under  current  were  back  in  the  old  world  of  tradition.  While, 
on  the  other  hand,  for  the  upper  current,  we  were  keeping 
up  a  brisk  conversation  on  the  peace  question,  on  the  abolition 


196  SUXNY    MEMOUrES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

of  slavery,  on  the  possibility  of  ignoring  slave-gi'own  j)roduce, 
on  Mr.  Cobden  and  I\Ir.  Bright,  and,  in  fact,  on  all  tlic  most 
■\vide-awake  topics  of  the  present  day. 

One  little  mcident  occurred  upon  the  road.  As  we  were 
passing  by  a  quaint  old  mansion,  which  stood  back  from  the 
road,  surrounded  by  a  deep  court,  Mr.  S.  said  to  me,  "  There 
is  a  friend  here  who  would  like  to  see  thee,  if  thou  hast  no 
objections,"  and  went  on  to  inform  me  that  she  was  an  aged 
woman,  who  had  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  abolition  of 
slavery  since  the  time  of  its  first  inception  under  Clarkson 
and  Wilberforce,  though  now  lying  very  low  on  a  sick  bed. 
Of  course  we  all  expressed  our  willingness  to  stop,  and  the 
carriage  was  soon  driving  up  the  gravelled  walk  towards  the 
house.  We  were  ushered  into  a  comfortable  sitting  room, 
which  looked  out  on  beautiful  grounds,  where  the  velvet  grass, 
tall,  dark  trees,  and  a  certain  quaint  air  of  antiquity  in  dispo- 
sition and  arrangement,  gave  me  a  singular  kind  of  pleas- 
ure ;  the  more  so,  that  it  came  to  me  like  a  dream ;  that  the 
house  and  the  people  were  unknown  to  me,  and  the  whole 
affair  entirely  unexpected. 

I  was  soon  shown  into  a  neat  chamber,  where  an  aged 
woman  was  lying  in  bed.  I  was  very  much  struck  and  im- 
pressed by  her  manner  of  receiving  me.  With  deep  emotion 
and  tears,  she  spoke  of  the  solemnity  and  sacredness  of  the 
cause  which  had  for  years  lain  near  her  heart.  There  seemed 
to  be  something  almost  prophetic  in  the  solemn  strain  of  as- 
surance with  which  she  spoke  of  the  final  extinction  of  sla- 
very throughout  the  world. 

I  felt  both  pleased  and  sorrowful.  I  felt  sorrowful  be- 
cause I  knew,  if  all  true  Christians  in  America  had  the  same 
feelmgs,  that  men,  women,  and  children,  for  whom   Christ 


SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOIIEIGN    LANDS.  197 

died,  would  no  more  be  sold  in  my  country  on  the  auction 
block. 

There  have  been  those  in  America  who  have  felt  and  prayed 
thus  nobly  and  sincerely  for  the  heathen  in  Burmah  and  Hin- 
dostan,  and  that  sentiment  was  a  beautiful  and  an  ennobling 
one  ;  but,  alas !  the  number  has  been  few  who  have  felt  and 
prayed  for  the  heathenism  and  shame  of  our  own  country ; 
for  the  heathenism  which  sells  the  very  members  of  the  body 
of  Christ  as  merchandise. 

When  we  were  again  on  the  road,  we  were  talking  on  the 
change  of  times  in  England  since  railroads  began ;  and  Mr.  S. 
gave  an  amusing  description  of  how  the  old  lords  used  to 
travel  in  state,  with  their  coaches  and  horses,  when  they  went 
up  once  a  year  on  a  solemn  pilgrimage  to  London,  with  pos- 
tiHons  and  outriders,  and  all  the  country  gaping  and  wonder- 
ing after  them. 

"  I  wonder,"  said  one  of  us,  "  if  Shakspeare  were  living, 
what  he  would  say  to  our  times,  and  what  he  would  think 
of  all  the  questions  that  are  agitating  the  world  now."  That 
he  did  have  thoughts  whose  roots  ran  far  beyond  the  depth  of 
the  age  in  which  he  lived,  is  plain  enough  from  numberless 
indications  in  his  plays ;  but  whether  he  would  have  taken  any 
practical  interest  in  the  world's  movements  is  a  fair  question. 
The  poetic  mind  is  not  always  the  progressive  one ;  it  has, 
like  moss  and  ivy,  a  need  for  something  old  to  cling  to  and 
germinate  u2:>on.  The  artistic  temperament,  too,  is  soft  and 
sensitive ;  so  there  are  all  these  reasons  for  thinking  that 
perhaps  he  would  have  been  for  keeping  out  of  the  Avay  of 
the  heat  and  dust  of  modern  progress.  It  does  not  follow 
because  a  man  has  penetration  to  see  an  evil,  he  has  energy 
to  reform  it. 

17* 


198  SUNNY    MKMOHIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

Erasmus  saw  all  that  Luther  saw  just  as  clearly,  hut  he 
said  that  he  had  rather  never  have  truth  at  all,  than  contend 
for  it  with  the  world  in  such  a  tumult.  However,  on  tlie 
other  hand,  England  did,  in  Milton,  have  one  poet  who  girt 
himsell'  up  to  the  roughest  and  stormiest  work  of  reforma- 
tion ;  so  it  is  not  quite  certain,  after  all,  that  Shakspeare 
might  not  have  been  a  reformer  in  our  times.  One  thin"^ 
is  quite  certam,  that  he  would  have  said  very  shrewd  things 
about  all  the  matters  that  move  the  world  now,  as  he  cer- 
tainly did  about  all  matters  that  he  was  cognizant  of  in  his 
own  day. 

It  was  a  little  before  noon  when  we  drove  into  Stratford, 
by  which  time,  with  our  usual  fatality  in  visiting  poetic  shrines, 
the  day  had  melted  off  into  a  kind  of  drizzling  mist,  strongly 
suggestive  of  a  downright  rain.  It  is  a  common  trick  these 
English  days  have ;  the  weather  here  seems  to  be  possessed 
of  a  water  spirit.  This  constant  drizzle  is  good  for  ivjes,  and 
hawthorns,  and  ladies'  complexions,  as  whoever  travels  here 
will  observe,  but  it  certainly  is  very  bad  for  tourists. 

This  Stratford  is  a  small  town,  of  between  three  and  four 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  has  in  it  a  good  many  quaint  old 
houses,  and  is  characterized  (so  I  thought)  by  an  air  of  re- 
spectable, stand-still,  and  meditative  repose,  which,  I  am 
afraid,  will  entirely  give  way  before  the  railroad  demon,  for  I 
understand  that  it  is  soon  to  be  connected  by  the  Oxford, 
Worcester,  and  Wolverhampton  line  wuth  all  parts  of  the 
kingdom.  Just  think  of  that  black  little  screeching  imp  rush- 
ing through  these  fields  which  have  inspired  so  many  fancies  ; 
how  every  thing  poetical  will  fly  before  it !  Think  of  such 
sweet  snatches  as  these  set  to  the  tune  of  a  railroad  whis- 
tle:  — 


199 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

"  Hark  !  hark  !  the  lark  at  heaven's  gate  sings, 
And  Phoebus  'gins  to  rise, 
His  steeds  to  water  at  those  springs 
On  chaliced  flowers  that  lies. 

And  winking  Mary-buds  begin 

To  ope  their  golden  eyes, 
With  ever)'  thing  that  pretty  bin 

My  lady  sweet  to  rise." 

And  again  :  — 

♦'  Philomel  with  melody  sing  in  our  sweet  lullaby, 
Lulla,  lulla,  lullaby. 
Never  harm,  nor  spell,  nor  charm, 
Come  our  lovely  lady  nigh." 

I  suppose  the  meadows,  with  their  "  winking  Mary-buds  " 
will  be  all  cut  up  into  building  lots  in  the  good  times  coming, 
and  Philomel  caught  and  put  in  a  cage  to  smg  to  tourists  at 
threepence  a  head. 

We  went  to  the  White  Lion,  and  soon  had  a  httle  quiet 
parlor  to  ourselves,  neatly  carpeted,  with  a  sofa  drawn  up  to 
the  cheerful  coal  fire,  a  good-toned  piano,  and  in  short  every 
thing  cheerful  and  comfortable. 

At  first  we  thought  we  were  too  tired  to  (io  any  thing  till 
after  dinner  ;  we  were  going  to  take  time  to  rest  ourselves  and 

proceed  leisurely  ;  so,  while  the  cloth  was  laying,  C took 

possession  of  the  piano,  and  I  of  the  sofa,  till  Mr.  S.  came  in 
upon  us,  saying,  "  Why,  Shakspeare's  house  is  right  the  next 
door  here!"  Upon  that  we  got  up,  just  to  take  a  peep, 
and  from  peeping  we  proceeded  to  looking,  and  finally  put 
on  our  things  and  went  over  seriatim.  The  house  has  re- 
cently been  bought  by  a  Shakspearian  club,  who  have  taken 


200 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 


upon    themselves    tlie    restoration    and    preservation    of   the 
premises. 

Shakspeare's  father,  it  seems,  was  a  man  of  some  position 
and  substance  in  his  day,  being  high  sheriff  and  justice  of  the 
peace  for  the  borough ;  and  this  house,  therefore,  t  suppose, 
may  be  considered  a  specimen  of  the  respectable  class  of  houses 
in  the  times  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  This  cut  is  taken  from  an 
old  print,  and  is  supposed  to  represent  the  original  condition 
of  the  house. 


^ -</-->*- --_^. 


We  saw  a  good  many  old  houses  somewhat  similar  to  this 
on  the  road,  particularly  resembling  it  in  this  manner  of  plas- 
tering, which  shows  all  the  timber  on  the  outside.  Parts  of 
the  house  have  been  sold,  altered,  and  used  for  various  pur- 
poses ;    a  butcher's  stall  having  been  kept  in  a  part  of  it. 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN   LANDS. 


201 


and  a  tavern  in  another  portion,  being  new-fronted  with 
brick. 

The  object  of  this  Shakspeare  Ckib  has  been  to  repurchase 
all  these  parts,  and  restore  them  as  nearly  as  possible  to  their 
primeval  condition.  The  part  of  the  house  which  is  shown 
consists  of  a  lower  room,  which  is  floored  with  flat  stones  very 
much  broken.  It  has  a  wide,  old-fashioned  chimney  on  one 
side,  and  opens  into  a  smaller  room  back  of  it.  From  thence 
you  go  up  a  rude  flight  of  stairs  to  a  low-studded  room,  with 
rough-plastered  walls,  where  the  poet  was  born. 

The  prints  of  this  room,  which  are  generally  sold,  allow 
themselves  in  considerable  poetic  license,  representing  it  in 
fact  as  quite  an  elegant  apartment,  whereas,  though  it  is  kept 
scrupulously  neat  and  clean,  the  air  of  it  is  ancient  and  rude. 
This  is  a  somewhat  flattered  Hkeness.     The  roughly-plastered 


walls  are  so  covered  with  ntunes  that  it  seemed  impossible  to 
add  another.  The  name  of  almost  every  modem  genius, 
names  of  kings,  princes,  dukes,  are  shown  here ;  and  it  is 


202  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

really  curious  to  see  by  what  devices  some  very  insignificant 
personages  have  endeavored  to  make  their  own  names  con- 
spicuous in  the  crowd.  Generally  speaking  the  inscription 
books  and  walls  of  distinguished  places  tend  to  give  great 
force  to  the  Vulgate  rendering  of  Ecclesiastes  i.  15,  "The 
number  of  fools  is  infinite." 

To  add  a  name  in  a  private,  modest  way  to  walls  already 
so  crowded,  is  allowable ;  but  to  scrawl  one's  name,  place  of 
birth,  and  country,  half  across  a  wall,  covering  scores  of  names 
under  it,  is  an  operation  which  speaks  for  itself.  No  one 
would  ever  want  to  know  more  of  a  man  than  to  see  his  name 
there  and  thus. 

Back  of  this  room  were  some  small  bed  rooms,  and  what 
interested  me  much,  a  staircase  leading  up  into  a  dark  garret. 
I  could  not  but  fancy  I  saw  a  bright-eyed,  curly-headed  boy 
creeping  up  those  stairs,  zealous  to  explore  the  mysteries  of 
that  dark  garret.  There  perhaps  he  saw  the  cat,  with  "  eyne 
of  burninjx  coal,  crouchinij  'fore  the  mouse's  hole."  Doubtless 
in  this  old  garret  were  wonderful  mysteries  to  him,  curious 
stores  of  old  cast-ofF  goods  and  furniture,  and  rats,  and  mice, 
and  cobwebs.  I  fancied  the  indignation  of  some  belligerent 
grandmother  or  aunt,  who  finds  "Willie  up  there  watching  a 
mouse  hole,  with  the  cat,  and  has  him  doAvn  straightway, 
grumbling  that  Mary  did  not  govern  that  child  better. 

We  know  nothing  who  this  Mary  was  that  was  his  mother ; 
but  one  sometimes  wonders  where  in  that  coarse  age,  when 
queens  and  ladies  talked  familiarly,  as  women  would  blush  to 
talk  now,  and  when  the  broad,  coarse  wit  of  the  Merry  Wives 
of  Windsor  was  gotten  up  to  suit  the  taste  of  a  virgin  queen, 
—  one  wonders,  I  say,  when  women  were  such  and  so,  where 
he  found  tliose  models  of  lily-like  purity,  women  so  chaste  in 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       203 

soul  and  pure  in  language  that  they  could  not  even  bring  their 
lips  to  utter  a  word  of  shame.  Desdemona  cannot  even  brmg 
herself  to  speak  the  coarse  word  with  which  her  husband 
taunts  her ;  she  cannot  make  herself  believe  that  there  are 
women  in  the  world  who  could  stoop  to  such  grossness.* 

For  my  part  I  cannot  beheve  that,  in  such  an  age,  such 
deep  heart-knowledge  of  pure  womanhood  could  have  come 
otherwise  than  by  the  impression  on  the  child's  soul  of  a 
mother's  purity.  I  seem  to  have  a  vision  of  one  of  those 
women  whom  the  world  knows  not  of,  silent,  deep-hearted, 
loving,  whom  the  coarser  and  more  practically  efficient  jostle 
aside  and  underrate  for  their  want  of  interest  in  the  noisy 
chitchat  and  commonplace  of  the  day;  but  who  yet  have  a 
•  sacred  power,  hke  that  of  the  spirit  of  peace,  to  brood  with 
dovelike  wings  over  the  childish  heart,  and  quicken  into  Hfe 
the  struggHng,  slumbering  elements  of  a  sensitive  nature. 

I  cannot  but  think,  in  that  beautiful  scene,  where  he  rep- 
resents Desdemona  as  amazed  and  struck  dumb  with  the 
grossness  and  brutality  of  the  charges  which  had  been  thrown 
upon  her,  yet  so  dignified  in  the  consciousness  of  her  own 
purity,  so  magnanimous  in  the  power  of  disinterested,  forgiv- 
ing love,  that  he  was  portraying  no  ideal  excellence,  but  only 
reproducing,  under  fictitious  and  supposititious  circumstances, 
the  patience,  magnanimity,  and  enduring  love  which  had 
shone  upon  him  in  the  household  words  and  ways  of  his 
mother. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  in  that  bare  and  lowly  chamber  I 
saw  a  vision  of  a  lovely  face  which  was  the  first  beauty  that 

*  This  idea  is  beautifully  wTought  out  by  Mrs.  Jamieson  in  her  Char- 
acteristics of  the  Women  of  Shakspeare,  to  which  the  author  is  indebted 
for  the  0  iggcbtion. 


204  SUNNY    MKMORIKS    OF    FORKIGN    LANDS. 

dawned  on  tliose  childish  eyes,  and  lieard  that  voice  whose 
hdlaby  tuned  liis  ear  to  an  exquisite  sense  of  cadence  and 
rliythin.  I  jQxncied  tliat,  -while  she  thus  serenely  shone  upon 
him  like  a  benignant  star,  some  rigorous  grand-aunt  took  upon 
her  the  practical  part  of  his  guidance,  chased  up  his  wander- 
ings to  tlie  right  and  left,  scolded  him  for  wanting  to  look  out 
of  the  window  because  his  little  climbing  toes  left  their  mark 
on  the  neat  wall,  or  rigorously  arrested  him  when  his  curly 
head  was  seen  bobbing  off  at  the  bottom  of  the  street, 
following  a  bird,  or  a  dog,  or  a  showman ;  intercepting  him  in 
some  happy  hour  when  he  was  aiming  to  strike  off  on  his  own 
account  to  an  adjoining  field  for  "winking  Mary -buds ;"  made 
long  sermons  to  him  on  the  wickedness  of  muddying  his 
clothes  and  wetting  his  new  shoes,  (if  he  had  any,)  and  told 
him  that  something  dreadful  would  come  out  of  the  graveyard 
and  catch  him  if  he  was  not  a  better  boy,  imagining  that  if  it 
were  not  for  her  bustling  activity  Willie  would  go  straight  to 
destruction. 

I  seem,  too,  to  have  a  kind  of  perception  of  Shakspeare's 
father ;  a  quiet,  God-fearing,  thoughtful  man,  given  to  the 
reading  of  good  books,  avoiding  quarrels  with  a  most  Christian- 
like fear,  and  with  but  small  talent,  either  in  the  way  of  speech 
making  or  money  getting  ;  a  man  who  wore  his  coat  with  an 
easy  slouch,  and  who  seldom  knew  where  his  money  went  to. 

All  these  things  I  seemed  to  perceive  as  if  a  sort  of  vision 
had  radiated  from  the  old  walls  ;  there  seemed  to  be  the  rus- 
tling of  garments  and  the  sound  of  voices  in  the  deserted 
rooms  ;  the  pattering  of  feet  on  the  worm-eaten  staircase  ;  the 
hght  of  still,  shady  summer  afternoons,  a  hundred  years  ago, 
seemed  to  fall  through  the  casements  and  lie  upon  the  ifloor. 
There  was  an  interest  to  every  thing  about  the  house,  even  to 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       205 

the  quaint  iron  fastenings  about  the  windows ;  because  those 
might  have  arrested  that  child's  attention,  and  been  dwelt  on 
in  some  dreamy  hour  of  infant  thought.  The  fires  that  once 
burned  in  those  old  chimneys,  the  fleeting  sparks,  the  curling 
smoke,  and  glowing  coals,  all  may  have  inspired  their  fancies. 
There  is  a  strong  tinge  of  household  coloring  in  many  parts 
of  Shakspeare,  imagery  that  could  only  have  come  from  such 
habits  of  quiet,  household  contemplation.  See,  for  example, 
this  description  of  the  stillness  of  the  house,  after  all  are  gone 
to  bed  at  night :  — 

*'  Now  sleep  y slaked  hath  the  rout ; 
No  din.  but  snores,  the  house  about, 
Made  louder  by  the  o'er-fed  breast 
Of  this  most  pompous  marriage  feast. 
The  cat,  "with  eyne  of  burning  coal, 
Now  crouches  'fore  the  mouse's  hole  ; 
And  crickets  sing  at  th'  oven's  mouth, 
As  the  blither  for  their  drouth." 

Also  this  description  of  the  midnight  capers  of  the  fairies 
about  the  house,  from  INIidsummer  Night's  Dream :  — 

Puck.     "  Now  the  hungry  lion  roars, 

And  the  wolf  behowls  the  moon  ; 
Whilst  the  heavy  ploughman  snores, 

All  with  weary  task  fordone. 
NoAV  the  wasted  brands  do  glow, 

Whilst  the  scritch-owl,  scritching  loud, 
Puts  the  WTctch,  that  lies  in  woe, 

In  remembrance  of  a  shroud. 
Now  it  is  the  time  of  night. 

That  the  graves  all  gaping  wide, 
Every  one  lets  forth  his  sprite, 

In  the  churchway  paths  to  glide : 
VOL.    I.  18 


206  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

And  wc  fairies  that  do  run 

By  the  triple  Hecate's  team, 
From  the  presence  of  the  sun, 

Following  darkness  like  a  dream, 
Now  are  frolic ;  not  a  mouse 
Shall  disturb  this  hallowed  house  : 
I  am  sent  with  broom  before. 
To  sweep  the  dust  behind  the  door. 

Obe.    Through  this  house  give  glimmering  light, 
By  the  dead  and  drowsy  fire : 
Every  elf,  and  fairy  sprite, 

Hop  as  light  as  bird  from  brier  ; 
And  this  ditty  after  me 
Sing,  and  dance  it  trippingly." 

By  the  by,  one  cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  resemblance, 
in  the  spirit  and  coloring  of  these  lines,  to  those  very  similar 
ones  in  the  Penseroso  of  Milton :  — 

"  Far  from  all  resort  of  mirth. 
Save  the  cricket  on  the  hearth. 
Or  the  bellman's  drowsy  charm. 
To  bless  the  doors  from  nightly  harm  ; 
While  glowing  embers,  through  the  room. 
Teach  light  to  counterfeit  a  gloom."  • 

I  have  often  noticed  how  much  the  first  writings  of  Milton 
resemble  in  their  imagery  and  tone  of  coloring  those  of  Shak- 
speare,  particularly  in  the  phraseology  and  manner  of  describ- 
ing flowers.  I  think, Avere  a  certain  number  of  passages  from 
Lycidas  and  Comus  interspersed  with  a  certain  number  from 
INIidsummer  Night's  Dream,  the  imagery,  tone  of  thought, 
and  style  of  coloring,  would  be  found  so  nearly  identical,  that 
it  would  be  difficult  for  one  not  perfectly  familiar  to  distin- 
guish them.     You  may  try  it. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       207 
V 

That  Milton  read  and  admired  Sliakspeare  is  evident  from 
his  allusion  to  him  in  L' Allegro.  It  is  evident,  however,  that 
Milton's  taste  had  been  so  formed  by  the  Greek  models,  that 
he  was  not  entirely  aware  of  aU  that  was  in  Shakspeare  ;  he 
speaks  of  him  as  a  sweet,  fanciful  wai'bler,  and  it  is  exactly  in 
sweetness  and  fancifulness  that  he  seems  to  have  derived 
benefit  from  him.  In  his  earlier  poems,  Milton  seems,  like 
Shakspeare,  to  have  let  his  mind  run  freely,  as  a  brook  war- 
bles over  many-colored  pebbles ;  whereas  in  his  great  poem 
he  built  after  models.  Had  he  known  as  little  Latin  and 
Greek  as  Shakspeare,  the  world,  instead  of  seeing  a  well- 
arranged  imitation  of  the  ancient  epics  from  his  pen,  would 
have  seen  inaugurated  a  new  order  of  poetry. 

An  unequalled  artist,  who  should  build  after  the  model  of  a 
Grecian  temple,  would  doubtless  produce  a  splendid  and  effec- 
tive building,  because  a  certain  originality  always  inheres  in 
genius,  even  when  copying ;  but  far  greater  were  it  to  invent 
an  entirely  new  style  of  architecture,  as  different  as  the  Gothic 
from  the  Grecian.  This  merit  was  Shakspeare's.  He  was  a 
superb  Gothic  poet ;  Milton,  a  magnificent  imitator  of  old 
forms,  which  by  his  genius  were  wrought  almost  into  the 
energy  of  new  productions. 

I  think  Shakspeare  is  to  Milton  precisely  what  Gothic 
architecture  is  to  Grecian,  or  rather  to  the  warmest,  most 
vitalized  reproductions  of  the  Grecian  ;  there  is  in  Milton  a 
calm,  severe  majesty,  a  graceful  and  polished  inflorescence  of 
ornament,  that  produces,  as  you  look  upon  it,  a  serene,  long, 
strong  ground-swell  of  admiration  and  approval.  Yet  there 
is  a  cold  unity  of  expression,  that  calls  into  exercise  only  the 
very  highest  range  of  our  faculties :  there  is  none  of  that 
wreathed  involution  of  smiles  and  tears,  of  solemn  earnest- 


208 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 


ness  and  quaint  conceits ;  those  sudden  uprusliings  of  grand 
and  magnificent  sentiment,  like  the  flame-pointed  arches  of 
cathedrals  ;  tlio?c  ranges  of  fancy,  half  goblin,  half  human  ; 
those  complications  of  dizzy  magnificence  with  fairy  lightness  ; 
those  streamings  of  many-colored  light ;  those  carvings  where- 
in every  natural  object  is  faithfully  reproduced,  yet  combined 
into  a  kind  of  enchantment :  the  union  of  all  these  is  in  Shak- 
speare,  and  not  in  Milton.  Milton  had  one  most  glorious 
phase  of  humanity  in  its  perfection ;  Shakspeare  had  all 
united ;  from  the  "  deep  and  dreadful "  sub-bass  of  the  organ 
to  the  most  aerial  warbling  of  its  highest  key,  not  a  stop  or 
pipe  was  wanting. 

But,  in  fine,  at  the  end  of  all  this  we  went  back  to  our 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  209 

hotel  to  dinner.     After  dinner  we  set  out  to  see  the  church. 

Even  Walter  Scott  has  not  a  more  poetic  monument  than  this 

church,  standing  as  it  does  amid  old,  embowering  trees,  on  the 

beautiful  banks  of  the  Avon.     A  soft,  still  rain  was  falling  on 

the  leaves  of  the  linden  trees,  as  we  walked  up  the    avenue 

to  the  church.     Even  rainy  though  it  was,  I  noticed  that 

many  little  birds  would  occasionally  break  out  into  song.    In 

the  event  of  such  a  phenomenon  as  a  bright  day,  I  think  there 

must  be  quite  a  jubilee  of  birds  here,  even  as  he  sung  who 

lies  below  :  — 

*'  The  ousel-cock,  so  black  of  hue, 
With  orange-tawny  bill. 
The  throstle  -with  his  note  so  true, 

The  vrrcn  ydih  little  quill ; 
The  finch,  the  sparrow,  and  the  larii, 
The  plain-song  cuckoo  gray." 

The  church  has  been  carefully  restored  mside,  so  that  it  is 
now  in  excellent  preservation,  and  Shakspeare  lies  buried 
under  a  broad,  flat  stone  in  the  chancel.  I  had  full  often  read, 
and  knew  by  heart,  the  inscription  on  this  stone ;  but  somehow, 
when  I  came  and  stood  over  it,  and  read  it,  it  affected  me  as 
if  there  were  an  emanation  from  the  grave  beneath.  I  have 
often  wondered  at  that  inscription,  that  a  mind  so  sensitive, 
that  had  thought  so  much,  and  expressed  thought  with  such 
startling  power  on  all  the  mysteries  of  death,  the  grave,  and 
the  future  world,  should  have  found  nothmg  else  to  inscribe 
on  his  own  grave  but  this  :  — 

Good  Friend  for  lesus  SAKE  forbare 
To  diGG  T-E  Dust  EncloAsed  HERe 

Blese  be  T-E  Man  ^  spares  T-Es  Stones 

T 
And  curst  be  He  y  nioves  my  Bones 

18* 


210       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

It  seems  that  the  inscription  has  not  been  without  its  use, 
in  averting  what  the  sensitive  poet  most  dreaded;  for  it  is 
recorded  in  one  of  the  books  sold  hcrCj  that  some  years  ago, 
in  difrfrinir  a  neighboring  grave,  a  careless  sexton  broke  into 
the  side  of  Shakspcare's  tomb,  and  looking  in  saw  his  bones, 
and  could  easily  have  carried  away  the  skull  had  he  not  been 
deterred  by  the  imprecation. 

There  is  a  monument  in  the  side  of  the  wall,  which  has  a 
bust  of  Shakspeare  upon  it,  said  to  be  the  most  authentic  like- 
ness, and  supposed  to  have  been  taken  by  a  cast  from  his  face 
after  death.  This  statement  was  made  to  us  by  the  guide 
who  showed  it,  and  he  stated  that  Chantrey  had  come  to  that 
conclusion  by  a  minute  examination  of  the  face.  He  took  us 
into  a  room  where  was  an  exact  plaster  cast  of  tlie  bust,  on 
which  he  pointed  out  various  little  minutioe  on  which  this  idea 
was  founded.  The  two  sides  of  the  face  are  not  alike  ;  there 
is  a  falling  in  and  depression  of  the  muscles  on  one  side  which 
does  not  exist  on  the  other,  such  as  probably  would  never 
have  occurred  in  a  fancy  bust,  where  the  effort  always  is  to 
render  the  two  sides  of  the  face  as  much  alike  as  possible. 
There  is  more  fulness  about  the  lower  part  of  the  face  than 
is  consistent  with  the  theory  of  an  idealized  bust,  but  is  per- 
fectly consistent  with  the  probabilities  of  the  time  of  life  at 
which  he  died,  and  perhaps  with  the  effects  of  the  disease  of 
which  he  died. 

All  this  I  set  down  as  it  was  related  to  me  by  our  guide ;  it 
had  a  very  plausible  and  probable  sound,  and  I  was  bent  on 
believing,  which  is  a  great  matter  in  faith  of  all  kinds. 

It  is  something  in  favor  of  the  supposition  that  this  is  an 
authentic  likeness,  that  it  was  erected  in  his  own  native  town 
within  seven  years  of  his  death,  among  people,  therefore,  who 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       211 

must  have  preserved  the  recollection  of  his  personal  appear- 
ance. After  the  manner  of  those  times  it  was  originally- 
painted,  the  hair  and  beard  of  an  auburn  color,  the  eyes  hazel, 
and  the  dress  was  represented  as  consisting  of  a  scarlet  doub 
let,  over  which  was  a  loose  black  gown  without  sleeves ;  all 
which  looks  like  an  attempt  to  preserve  an  exact  hkeness. 
The  inscription  upon  it,  also,  seemed  to  show  that  there  were 
some  in  the  world  by  no  means  unaware  of  who  and  what 
he  was. 

Next  to  the  tomb  of  Shakspeare  in  the  chancel  is  buried 
his  favorite  daughter,  over  whom  somebody  has  placed  the 
following  quaint  inscription  :  — 

"  Witty  above  her  sex,  but  that's  not  all, 
"Wise  to  salvation  was  good  Mistress  Hall. 
Something  of  Shakspeare  was  in  that,  but  this 
Wholly  of  him,  with  whom  she  is  now  in  bliss ; 
Then,  passenger,  hast  ne'er  a  tear, 
To  weep  with  her  that  wept  with  all  — 
That  wept,  yet  set  herself  to  cheer 
Them  up  mth  comfort's  cordial  ? 
Her  love  shall  live,  her  mercy  spread, 
When  thou  hast  ne'er  a  tear  to  shed." 

This  good  Mistress  Hall,  it  appears,  was  Shakspeare's  favor- 
ite among  his  three  children.  His  son,  Hamet,  died  at  twelve 
years  of  age.  His  daughter  Judith,  as  appears  from  some  curi- 
ous document  still  extant,  could  not  write  her  own  name,  but 
signed  with  her  mark ;  so  that  the  "  wit "  of  the  family  must 
have  concentrated  itself  in  Mistress  Hall.  To  her,  in  his  last 
wiU,  which  is  still  extant,  Shakspeare  bequeathed  an  amount 
of  houses,  lands,  plate,  jewels,  and  other  valuables,  sufficient 
to  constitute  quite  a  handsome  estate.     It  would  appear,  from 


212  SLWNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

this,  that  the  poet  deemed  her  not  only  "  wise  unto  salvation," 
but  wise  in  her  day  and  generatiou,  thus  intrusting  her  with 
the  bulk  of  his  worldly  goods. 

His  wife,  Ann  Hathaway,  is  buried  near  by,  under  the  same 
pavement.  From  the  slight  notice  taken  of  her  in  the  poet's 
will,  it  would  appear  that  there  was  little  love  between  them. 
He  married  her  when  he  was  but  eighteen ;  most  likely  she 
was  a  mere  rustic  beauty,  entirely  incapable  either  of  appre- 
ciating or  adapting  herself  to  that  wide  and  wonderful  mind 
in  its  full  development. 

As  to  Mistress  Hall,  though  the  estate  was  carefully  en- 
tailed, through  her,  to  heirs  male  through  all  generations,  it 
was  not  her  good  fortune  to  become  the  mother  of  a  long  line, 
for  she  had  only  one  daughter,  who  became  Lady  Barnard, 
and  in  whom,  dying  childless,  the  family  became  extinct. 
Shakspeare,  like  Scott,  seems  to  have  had  the  desire  to  per- 
petuate himself  by  founding  a  family  with  an  estate,  and  the 
coincidence  in  the  result  is  striking.  Genius  must  be  its  own 
monument. 

After  we  had  explored  the  church  we  went  out  to  walk 
about  the  place.  We  crossed  the  beautiful  bridge  over  tlie 
Avon,  and  thought  how  lovely  those  fields  and  meadows 
would  look,  if  they  only  had  sunshine  to  set  them  out.  Then 
we  went  to  the  town  hall,  where  we  met  the  mayor,  who 
had  kindly  called  and  offered  to  show  us  the  place. 

It  seems,  in  17C8,  that  Garrick  set  himself  to  work  in  good 
earnest  to  do  honor  to  Shakspeare's  memory,  by  getting  up  a 
public  demonstration  at  Stratford ;  and  the  world,  through  the 
talents  of  this  actor,  having  become  alive  and  enthusiastic, 
liberal  subscriptions  were  made  by  the  nobility  and  gentry,  the 
town  hall  was  handsomely  repaired  and  adorned,  and  a  statue 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 


213 


of  Sliakspeare,  presented  by  Garrick,  was  placed  in  a  niclie  at 
one  end.  Then  all  the  chief  men  and  mighty  men  of  the 
nation  came  and  testified  their  reverence  for  the  poet,  by 
having  a  general  jubilee.  A  great  tent  was  spread  on  the 
banks  of  the  Avon,  where  they  made  speeches  and  drank 
wine,  and  wound  up  all  with  a  great  dance  in  the  town  hall ; 
and  so  the  manes  of  Sliakspeare  were  appeased,  and  his  posi- 
tion settled  for  all  generations.  The  room  in  the  town  hall  is 
a  very  handsome  one,  and  has  pictures  of  Garrick,  and  the 
other  notables  who  figured  on  that  occasion. 

After  that  we  were  taken  to  see  New  Place.  "And  what  is 
New  Place  ?  "  you  say ;  "  the  house  where  Shakspeare  lived  ?  " 
Not  exactly ;  but  a  house  built  where  his  house  was.     This 


drawing  is  taken  from  an  old  print,  and  is  supposed  to  rep- 
resent the  house  as  Shakspeare  fitted  it  up. 

We  went  out  into  what  was  Shakspeare's  garden,  where  we 


214       8UNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

were  shown  his  mulberry —  not  the  one  that  he  planted  though, 
but  a  veritable  mulbeny  planted  on  the  same  spot ;  and  then 
we  went  back  to  our  hotel  very  tired,  but  having  conscien- 
tiously performed  every  jot  and  tittle  of  the  duty  of  good 
pilgrims. 

As  we  sat,  in  the  drizzly  evening,  over  our  comfortable  tea 

ta.ble,  C ventured  to  intimate  pretty  decidedly  that  he 

considered  the  whole  thing  a  bore  ;  whereat  I  thought  I  saw 
a  sly  twinkle  around  the  eyes  and  mouth  of  our  most  Chris- 
tian and  patient  friend,  Joseph  Sturge.  Mr.  S.  laughingly  told 
him  that  he  thought  it  the  greatest  exercise  of  Christian  tol- 
erance, that  he  should  have  trailed  round  in  the  mud  with  us 
all  day  in  our  sightseeing,  bearing  with  our  unreasonable 
raptures.  lie  smiled,  and  said,  quietly,  "  I  must  confess  that 
I  was  a  little  pleased  that  our  friend  Harriet  was  so  zealous  to 
see  Shakspeare's  house,  when  it  wasn't  his  house,  and  so  ear- 
nest to  get  sprigs  from  his  mulberry,  when  it  wasn't  his  mul- 
berry." We  were  quite  ready  to  allow  the  foolishness  of  the 
thing,  and  join  the  laugh  at  our  own  expense. 

As  to  our  bed  rooms,  you  must  know  that  all  the  apartments 
in  this  house  are  named  after  different  plays  of  Shakspcare, 
the  name  being  printed  conspicuously  over  each  door ;  so  that 
the  choosing  of  our  rooms  made  us  a  little  sport. 

"  What  rooms  will  you  have,  gentlemen  ?  "  says  the  pretty 
chamber  maid. 

"  Rooms,"  said  Mr.  S. ;  "  why,  what  are  there  to  have  ?  " 

"  Well,  there's  Richai'd  III.,  and  there's  Hamlet,"  says  the 
girl. 

"  O,  Hamlet,  by  all  means,"  said  I ;  "  that  was  always  my 
favorite.  Can't  sleep  in  Richard  III.,  we  should  have  such 
l)ad  dreams." 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS.  215 

"  For  my  part,"  said  C ,  "  I  want  All's  well  that  ends 

weU." 

"  I  think,"  said  the  chamber  maid,  hesitating,  "  the  bed  in 
Hamlet  isn't  large  enough  for  two.  Richard  III.  is  a  very 
nice  room,  sir." 

In  fact,  it  became  evident  that  we  were  foreordained  to 
Richard;  so  we  resolved  to  embrace  the  modern  historical 
view  of  this  subject,  which  will  before  long  turn  him  out  a 
saint,  and  not  be  afraid  of  the  muster  roll  of  ghosts  which 
Shakspeare  represented  as  infesting  his  apartment. 

AYeU,  for  a  wonder,  the  next  morning  arose  a  genuine 
sunny,  beautiful  day.     Let  the  fact  be  recorded   that   such 

things  do  sometimes  occur   even   in   England.      C was 

mollified,  and  began  to  recant  his  ill-natured  heresies  of  the 
night  before,  and  went  so  far  as  to  walk,  out  of  his  own 
proper  motion,  to  Ann  Hathaway's  Cottage  before  breakfast 
—  he  being  one  of  the  brethren  described  by  Longfellow, 

"  Who  is  gifted  with  most  miraculous  powers 
Of  getting  up  at  all  sorts  of  hours  ;  " 

and  therefore  he  came  in  to  breakfast  table  with  that  seren- 
ity of  virtuous  composure  which  generally  attends  those  who 
have  been  out  enjoying  the  beauties  of  nature  while  their 
neighbors  have  been  ingloriously  dozing. 

The  walk,  he  said,  was  beautiful ;  the  cottage  damp,  musty, 
and  fusty;  and  a  supposititious  old  bedstead,  of  the  age  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  which  had  been  obtruded  upon  his  notice 
because  it  might  have  belonged  to  Ann  IlathaAvay's  mother, 
received  a  special  malediction.  For  my  part,  my  relic- 
hunting  propensities  were  not  in  the  slightest  degree  ap- 
peased, but  rather  stimulated,  by  the  investigations  of  the  day 
before. 


216  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

It  seemed  to  me  so  singular  tliat  of  sucli  a  man  there 
should  not  remain  one  accredited  relic !  Of  Martin  Luther, 
though  he  lived  much  curlier,  how  many  things  remain  !  Of 
almost  any  distinguished  character  how  much  more  is  known 
than  of  Sliaks2>care  !  There  is  not,  so  far  as  I  can  discover, 
an  authentic  relic  of  any  thing  belonging  to  him.  There  are 
very  few  anecdotes  of  his  sayings  or  doings  ;  no  letters,  no  pri- 
vate memoranda,  that  should  let  us  into  the  secret  of  what  he 
was  personally  who  has  in  turns  personated  all  minds.  The 
very  perfection  of  his  dramatic  talent  has  become  an  impen- 
etrable veil :  we  can  no  more  tell  from  his  writings  what  were 
his  predominant  tastes  and  habits  than  we  can  discriminate 
among  the  variety  of  melodies  what  are  the  native  notes  of 
the  mocking  bird.  The  only  means  left  us  for  forming  an 
opinion  of  what  he  was  personally  are  inferences  of  the  most 
delicate  nature  from  the  slightest  premises. 

The  common  idea  which  has  pervaded  the  w^orld,  of  a  joy- 
ous, roving,  somewhat  unsettled,  and  dissipated  character, 
would  seem,  from  many  well-authenticated  facts,  to  be  incor- 
rect. The  gayeties  and  dissipations  of  his  life  seem  to  have 
been  confined  to  his  very  earliest  days,  and  to  have  been  the 
exuberance  of  a  most  extraordinary  vitality,  bursting  into  ex- 
istence with  such  force  and  vivacity  that  it  had  not  had  time 
to  collect  itself,  and  so  come  to  self-knowledge  and  control. 
By  many  accounts  it  would  appear  that  the  character  he  sus- 
tained in  the  last  years  of  his  life  was  that  of  a  judicious, 
common-sense  sort  of  man ;  a  discreet,  reputable,  and  reli- 
gious householder. 

The  inscription  on  his  tomb  is  worthy  of  remark,  as  indi- 
cating the  reputation  he  bore  at  the  time  :  "  Jiidicio  Pylium, 
genio  Socratem,  arte  3faronemJ^  (In  judgment  a  Nestor,  in 
genius  a  Socrates,  in  art  a  Virgil.) 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  217 

The  comparison  of  him  in  the  first  place  to  Nestor,  pro- 
verbially famous  for  practical  judgment  and  virtue  of  life, 
next  to  Socrates,  who  was  a  kind  of  Greek  combination  of 
Dr.  Paley  and  Dr.  Franklin,  indicates  a  very  different  im- 
pression of  him  from  what  would  generally  be  expressed 
of  a  poet,  certainly  what  would  not  have  been  placed  on 
the  grave  of  an  eccentric,  erratic  will-o'-the-wisp  genius,  how- 
ever distinguished.  Moreover,  the  pious  author  of  good  Mis- 
tress Hall's  epitaph  records  the  fact  of  her  being  "wise  to 
salvation,"  as  a  more  especial  point  of  resemblance  to  her 
father  than  even  her  being  "  witty  above  her'  sex,"  and 
expresses  most  confident  hope  of  her  being  with  him  in  bliss. 
The  Puritan  tone  of  the  epitaph,  as  well  as  the  quahty  of 
the  verse,  gives  reason  to  suppose  that  it  was  not  written  by 
one  who  was  seduced  into  a  tombstone  lie  by  any  superfluity 
of  poetic  sympathy. 

The  last  will  of  Shakspeare,  written  by  his  own  hand  and 
still  preserved,  shows  several  things  of  the  man. 

The  introduction  is  as  fbllows :  — 

"  In  the  name  of  God.  Amen.  I,  "William  Shakspeare,  at 
Stratford-upon-Avon,  in  the  county  of  Warwick,  gentleman, 
in  perfect  health  and  memory,  ( God  be  praised,)  do  make  and 
ordain  this  my  last  will  and  testament  in  manner  and  form 
following ;  that  is  to  say,  — 

"  First,  I  commend  my  soul  into  the  hands  of  God  my  Cre- 
ator, hoping,  and  assuredly  believing,  through  the  only  merits 
of  Jesus  Christ,  my  Savior,  to  be  made  partaker  of  life  ever- 
lasting ;  and  my  body  to  the  earth,  whereof  it  is  made." 

The  wiU  then  goes  on  to  dispose  of  an  amount  of  houses, 
lands,  plate,  money,  jewels,  &c.,  which  showed  certainly  that 
the  poet  had  possessed  some  worldly  skill  and  thrift  in  accu- 
VOL.  I.  19 


218       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

mulatiou,  and  to  divide  them  with  a  care  and  accuracy  which 
would  indicate  that  he  was  by  no  means  of  that  dreamy  and 
unpractical  habit  of  mind  which  cares  not  what  becomes  of 
worldly  goods. 

We  may  also  infer  something  of  a  man's  character  from 
the  tone  and  sentiments  of  others  towards  him.  Glass  of  a 
certain  color  casts  on  surrounding  objects  a  reflection  of  its 
own  hue,  and  so  the  tint  of  a  man's  character  returns  upon  us 
in  the  habitual  manner  in  which  he  is  spoken  of  by  those 
around  him.  The  common  mode  of  speaking  of  Shakspeare 
always  savored  of  endearment.  "  Gentle  Will "  is  an  expres- 
sion that  seemed  oftenest  repeated.  Ben  Jonson  inscribed 
his  funeral  verses  "  To  the  Memory  of  my  beloved  Mr.  William 
Shakspeare ;"  he  calls  him  the  "  sweet  swan  of  Avon."  Again, 
in  his  lines  under  a  bust  of  Shakspeare,  he  says,  — 

"  The  figure  that  thou  seest  put, 
It  was  for  gentle  Shakspeare  cut." 

In  later  times  Milton,  who  could  have  known  him  only  by 
tradition,  calls  him  "  my  Shakspeare,"  "  dear  son  of  mem- 
ory," and  "  sweetest  Shakspeare."  Kow,  nobody  ever  wrote 
of  sweet  John  Milton,  or  gentle  John  Milton,  or  gentle  Mar- 
tin Luther,  or  even  sweet  Ben  Jonson. 

Rowe  says  of  Shakspeare,  "  The  latter  part  of  his  life  was 
spent,  as  all  men  of  good  sense  would  wish  theirs  may  be,  in 
ease,  retirement,  and  the  conversation  of  his  friends.  Ilifi 
pleasurable  wit  and  good  nature  engaged  him  in  the  acquaint- 
ance, and  entitled  him  to  the  friendship,  of  the  gentlemen  of 
the  neighborhood."  And  Dr.  Drake  says,  "  He  was  high  in 
reputation  as  a  poet,  favored  by  the  great  and  the  accom- 
plished, and  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him." 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       219 

That  Shakspeare  had  religious  principle,  I  infer  not  merely 
from  the  indications  of  his  will  and  tombstone,  but  from  those 
strong  evidences  of  the  working  of  the  rehgious  element  which 
are  scattered  through  his  plays.  No  man  could  have  a  clearer 
perception  of  God's  authority  and  man's  duty  ;  no  one  has  ex- 
pressed more  forcibly  the  strength  of  God's  government,  the 
spirituality  of  his  requirements,  or  shown  with  more  fearful 
power  the  struggles  of  the  "law  in  the  members  warring 
anrainst  the  law  of  the  mmd." 

These  evidences,  scattered  through  his  plays,  of  deep  re- 
ligious struggles,  make  probable  the  idea  that,  in  the  latter, 
thoughtful,  and  tranquil  years  of  his  life,  devotional  im- 
pulses might  have  settled  into  habits,  and  that  the  solemn  lan- 
guage of  his  will,  in  which  he  professes  his  faith  in  Christ,  was 
not  a  mere  form.  Probably  he  had  all  his  life,  even  in  his 
gayest  hours,  more  real  religious  principle  than  the  hilarity  of 
his  maimer  would  give  reason  to  suppose.  I  always  fancy  he 
was  thinkmg  of  himself  when  he  wrote  this  character :  "  For 
the  man  doth  fear  God,  howsoever  it  seem  not  in  him  by  rea- 
son of  some  large  jests  he  doth  make." 

Neither  is  there  any  foundation  for  the  impression  that  he 
was  undervalued  in  his  own  times.  No  literary  man  of  liis 
day  had  more  success,  more  flattering  attentions  from  the 
great,  or  reaped  more  of  the  substantial  fruits  of  popularity,  in 
the  form  of  worldly  goods.  While  his  contemporary,  B^n  Jon- 
son,  sick  in  a  miserable  alley,  is  forced  to  beg,  and  receives 
but  a  wretched  pittance  from  Charles  I.,  Shakspeare's  fortune 
steadily  increases  from  year  to  year.  He  buys  the  best  place 
in  his  native  town,  and  fits  it  up  with  great  taste  ;  he  offered 
to  lend,  on  proper  security,  a  sum  of  money  for  the  use  of  the 
town  of  Stratford ;  he  added  to  his  estate  in  Stratford  a  hun- 
dred and  seventy  acres  of  land ;  he  bought  half  the  great  and 


220       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

small  tithes  of  Stratford ;  and  liis  annual  income  is  estimated  to 
have  been  what  would  at  the  present  time  be  nearly  four 
thousand  dollars. 

Queen  Elizabeth  also  patronized  him  after  her  ordinary 
fashion  of  patronizing  literary  men,  —  that  is  to  say,  she  ex- 
pressed her  gracious  pleasure  that  he  should  burn  incense  to 
her,  and  pay  his  own  bills :  economy  was  not  one  of  the 
least  of  the  royal  graces.  The  Earl  of  Southampton  patron- 
ized him  in  a  more  material  fashion. 

Queen  EUzabeth  even  so  far  condescended  to  the  poet  as  to 
perform  certain  hoidenish  tricks  while  he  was  playing  on  the 
stage,  to  see  if  she  could  not  disconcert  his  speaking  by  the 
majesty  of  her  royal  presence.  The  poet,  who  was  perform- 
ing the  part  of  King  Henry  IV.,  took  no  notice  of  her  motions, 
till,  in  order  to  bring  him  to  a  crisis,  she  dropped  her  glove  at 
his  feet ;  whereat  he  picked  it  up,  and  presented  it  her,  im- 
provising these  two  lines,  as  if  they  had  been  a  part  of  the 
play:  — 

"  And  though  now  bent  on  this  high  embassy, 
Yet  stoop  Tve  to  take  up  our  cousin's  glove." 

I  tliink  this  anecdote  very  characteristic  of  them  both ;  it 
seems  to  me  it  shows  that  the  poet  did  not  so  absolutely 
crawl  in  the  dust  before  her,  as  did  almost  all  the  so  called  men 
of  her  court ;  though  he  did  certainly  flatter  her  after  a  fashion 
in  which  few  queens  can  be  flattered.  His  description  of  the 
belligerent  old  Gorgon  as  the  "  Fair  Vestal  throned  by  the 
West "  seems  Hke  the  poetry  and  fancy  of  the  beautiful  Fairy 
Queen  wasted  upon  the  half-brute  clown :  — 

**  Come,  sit  thee  doTm  upon  this  flowery  bed, 
"While  I  thy  amiable  cheeks  do  coy, 
And  stick  musk  roses  in  thy  sleek,  smooth  head, 
And  kiss  thy  fair,  large  ears,  my  gentle  joy." 


SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF   FOIIEIGN    LANDS.  221 

Elizabeth's  understanding  and  appreciation  of  Sliakspeare 
was  much  after  the  fashion  of  Nick  Bottom's  of  the  Fairy 
Queen.  I  cannot  but  believe  that  the  men  of  genius  who 
employed  their  powers  in  celebratmg  this  most  repulsive  and 
disagreeable  woman  must  sometimes  have  comforted  them- 
selves by  a  good  laugh  in  private. 

In  order  to  appreciate  Shakspeare's  mmd  from  his  plays, 
we  must  discriminate  what  expressed  the  gross  tastes  of 
his  age,  and  what  he  wrote  to  please  himself.  The  Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor  was  a  specimen  of  what  he  wrote  for  the 
" Fair  Vestal;"  a  commentary  on  the  delicacy  of  her  maiden 
meditations.  The  Midsummer  Night's  Dream  he  wrote  from 
his  own  inner  di'eam  world. 

In  the  morning  we  took  leave  of  our  hotel.  In  leaving  we 
were  much  touched  with  the  simple  kindliness  of  the  people 
of  the  house.  The  landlady  and  her  daughters  came  to  bid 
us  farewell,  with  much  feehng ;  and  the  former  begged  my  ac- 
ceptance of  a  bead  purse,  knit  by  one  of  her  daughters,  she 
said,  during  the  wmter  evenings  while  they  were  reading 
Uncle  Tom.  In  this  town  one  finds  the  simple-hearted,  kindly 
English  people  corresponding  to  the  same  class  which  we  see 
in  our  retired  New  England  towns.  We  received  many  marks 
of  kindness  from  different  residents  in  Stratford ;  in  the  ex- 
pression of  them  they  appreciated  and  entered  into  our  de- 
sire for  privacy  with  a  dchcacy  which  touched  us  sensibly. 

We  had  little  time  to  look  about  us  to  see  Stratford  in  the 
sunshine.  So  we  went  over  to  a  place  on  the  banks  of  the 
Avon,  where,  it  was  said,  we  could  gain  a  very  perfect  view 
of  the  church.  The  remembrance  of  this  spot  is  to  me  Hke  a 
very  pleasant  dream.  The  day  was  bright,  the  air  was  soft 
and  still,  as  we  walked  up  and  down  the  alleys  of  a  beautiful 
19* 


222       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOUEIGN  LANDS. 

garden  that  extended  quite  to  tlie  cliurcli ;  tlie  rooks  were 
dreamily  cawing,  and  wheeling  in  dark,  airy  circles  round  the 
old  buttresses  and  spire.  A  funeral  train  had  come  into  the 
graveyard,  and  the  passing  bell  was  tolling.  A  thousand 
undefined  emotions  struggled  in  my  mind. 

That  loving  heart,  that  active  fancy,  that  subtile,  elastic 
power  of  appreciating  and  expressing  all  phases,  all  passions 
of  humanity,  are  they  breathed  out  on  the  wind  ?  are  they 
spent  hke  the  lightnmg  ?  are  they  exhaled  like  the  breath  of 
flowers  ?  or  are  they  still  living,  stiU  active  ?  and  if  so,  where 
and  how  ?  Is  it  reserved  for  us,  in  that  "  undiscovered  coun- 
try" which  he  spoke  of,  ever  to  meet  the  great  souls  whose 
breath  has  kindled  our  souls? 

I  think  we  forget  the  consequences  of  our  own  belief  in 
immortaUty,  and  look  on  the  ranks  of  prostrate  dead  as  a 
mower  on  fields  of  prostrate  flowers,  forgetting  that  activity  is 
an  essential  of  souls,  and  that  every  soul  w  hich  has  passed 
away  from  this  world  must  ever  since  have  been  actively  de- 
veloping those  habits  of  mind  and  modes  of  feeling  which  it 
began  here. 

The  haughty,  cruel,  selfish  Ehzabeth,  and  aU  the  great  men 
of  her  court,  are  stiU  living  and  acting  somewhere;  but  where? 
For  my  part  I  am  often  reminded,  when  dwelling  on  departed 
genius,  of  Luther's  ejaculation  for  his  favorite  classic  poet : 
"I  hope  God  will  have  mercy  on  such.'* 

We  speak  of  the  glory  of  God  as  exhibited  in  natural  land- 
scape making;  what  is  it,  compared  with  the  glory  of  God 
as  shown  in  the  making  of  souls,  especially  those  souls  which 
seem  to  be  endowed  with  a  creative  power  hke  his  own  ? 

There  seems,  strictly  speaking,  to  be  only  two  classes  of 
Bouls  — the  creative  and  the  receptive.     Now,  these  creators 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       223 

seem  to  me  to  liave  a  beauty  and  a  wortli  about  tbem  entirely 
independent  of  their  moral  character.  That  ethereal  power 
which  shows  itself  in  Greek  sculpture  and  Gothic  architecture, 
in  Rubens,  Shakspeare,  and  Mozart,  has  a  quality  to  me  inex- 
pressibly admirable  and  lovable.  We  may  say,  it  is  true,  that 
there  is  no  moral  excellence  in  it ;  but  none  the  less  do  we  ad- 
mire it.  God  has  made  us  so  that  we  cannot  help  loving  it ; 
our  souls  go  forth  to  it  with  an  infinite  longing,  nor  can  that 
longing  be  condemned.  That  mystic  quality  that  exists  in 
these  souls  is  a  glimpse  and  intimation  of  what  exists  in  Him 
in  full  perfection.  If  we  remember  this  we  shall  not  lose  our- 
selves in  admiration  of  worldly  genius,  but  be  led  by  it  to  a 
better  understanding  of  what  He  is,  of  whom  all  the  glories 
of  poetry  and  art  are  but  symbols  and  shadows. 


224  SU>'XY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 


LETTER    XI. 

Dear  II.:  — 

From  Stratford  we  drove  to  "Wanvick,  (or  "Warrick,"  as 
tliey  call  it  here.)  This  town  stands  on  a  rocky  hill  on  the 
banks  of  the  Avon,  and  is  quite  a  considerable  place,  for  it 
returns  two  members  to  Parliament,  and  has  upwards  of  ten 
thousand  inhabitants  ;  and  also  has  some  famous  manufactories 
of  wool  combing  and  spinnmg.  But  what  we  came  to  see  was 
the  castle.  We  drove  up  to  the  Warwick  Arms,  which  is  tlie 
principal  hotel  in  the  place  ;  and,  finding  that  we  were  withm 
the  hours  appointed  for  exhibition,  we  went  immediately. 

With  my  head  in  a  kind  of  historical  mist,  full  of  images  of 
York  and  Lancaster,  and  Red  and  White  Roses,  and  Warwick 
the  king  maker,  I  looked  up  to  the  towers  and  battlements  of 
the  old  castle.  We  went  in  through  a  passage  way  cut  in 
solid  rock,  about  twenty  feet  deep,  and  I  should  think  fifty 
long.  These  walls  were  entirely  covered  with  ivy,  hanging 
down  like  green  streamers ;  gentle  and  peaceable  pennons 
these  are,  waving  and  whispermg  that  the  old  war  times  are 
gone. 

At  the  end  of  this  passage  there  is  a  drawbridge  over  what 
was  formerly  the  moat,  but  which  is  now  grassed  and  planted 
with  shrubbery.  Up  over  our  heads  we  saw  the  great  iron 
teeth  of  the  portcullis.  A  rusty  old  giant  it  seemed  up  there, 
like  Pope  and  Pagan  in  Pilgrim's  Progress,  finding  no  scope 
for  himself  in  these  peaceable  times. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 


225 


When  we  came  fairly  into  the  court  yard  of  the  castle,  a 
scene  of  magnificent  beauty  opened  before  us,  I  cannot  de- 
scribe it  minutely.  The  principal  features  are  the  battlements, 
towers,  and  turrets  of  the  old  feudal  castle,  encompassed  by 
gi'ounds  on  wliich  has  been  expended  all  that  princely  art  of 
landscape  gardening  for  which  England  is  famous  —  leafy 
thickets,  magnificent  trees,  openings,  and  vistas  of  verdure, 
and  wide  sweeps  of  grass,  short,  thick,  and  vividly  green,  as 
the  velvet  moss  we  sometimes  see  growing  on  rocks  in  New 
England.  Grass  is  an  art  and  a  science  in  England  —  it  is 
an  institution.  The  pains  that  are  taken  in  sowing,  tending, 
cutting,  clipping,  rolling,  and  otherwise  nursing  and  coaxing 


226  SUNNY   MEMORIKS    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

it,  being  seconded  by  tlic  misty  breath  and  often  falling  tears 
of  the  climate,  produce  results  which  must  be  seen  to  be  ap- 
preciated. 

So  again  of  trees  in  England.  Trees  here  are  an  order  of 
nobility ;  and  they  wear  their  crowns  right  kingly.  A  few 
years  ago,  when  Miss  Sedgwick  was  in  this  country,  while 
admiring  some  splendid  trees  in  a  nobleman's  park,  a  lady 
standing  by  said  to  her  encouragingly,  "  O,  well,  I  suppose 
your  trees  in  America  will  be  grown  up  after  ,a  while !  " 
Since  that  time  another  style  of  thinking  of  America  has 
come  up,  and  the  remark  that  I  most  generally  hear  made  is, 
"  0,  I  suppose  we  cannot  think  of  showing  you  any  thing  in 
the  way  of  trees,  coming  as  you'do  from  America  !  '*  Throw- 
ing out  of  account,  however,  the  gigantic  growth  of  our  west- 
ern river  bottoms,  where  I  have  seen  sycamore  trunks  twenty 
feet  in  diameter  —  leaving  out  of  account,  I  say,  all  this  mam- 
moth arboria,  these  English  parks  have  trees  as  fine  and  as 
eifective,  of  their  kind,  as  any  of  ours  ;  and  when  I  say  their 
trees  are  an  order  of  nobility,  I  mean  that  they  pay  a  rever- 
ence to  them  such  as  their  magnificence  deserves.  Such  elms 
as  adorn  the  streets  of  New  Haven,  or  overarch  the  mead- 
ows of  Andover,  would  in  England  be  considered  as  of  a  value 
which  no  money  could  represent ;  no  pains,  no  expense  would 
be  spared  to  preserve  their  life  and  health ;  they  would  never 
be  shot  dead  by  having  gas  pipes  laid  under  them,  as  they  have 
been  in  some  of  our  New  England  towns ;  or  suffered  to  be 
devoured  by  canker  worms  for  want  of  any  amount  of  money 
spent  in  their  defence. 

Some  of  the  finest  trees  in  this  place  arc  magnificent  cedars 
of  Lebanon,  which  bring  to  mind  the  expression  in  Psalms, 
"  Excellent  as  the  cedars."     They  are  the  very  impersonation 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   I'OKEIGN    LANDS.  227 

of  kingly  majesty,  and  are  fitted  to  grace  the  old  feudal  strong- 
hold of  Warwick  the  king  maker.  These  trees,  standing  as 
they  do  amid  magnificent  sweeps  and  undulations  of  lawn, 
throwing  out  their  mighty  arms  with  such  majestic  breadth  and 
freedom  of  outhne,  are  themselves  a  living,  growing,  historical 
epic.  Their  seed  was  brought  from  Holy  Land  in  the  old 
days  of  the  crusades ;  and  a  hundred  legends  might  be  made 
up  of  the  time,  date,  and  occasion  of  their  planting.  These 
crusades  have  left  their  mark  every  where  through  Europe, 
from  the  cross  panel  on  the  doors  of  common  houses  to  the 
oriental  touches  and  arabesques  of  castles  and  cathedrals. 

In  the  reign  of  Stephen  there  was  a  certain  Roger  de 
Newburg,  second  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  appears  to  have  been 
an  exceedingly  active  and  public-spirited  character ;  and,  be- 
sides conquering  part  of  Wales,  founded  in  this  neighborhood 
various  priories  and  hospitals,  among  which  was  the  house  of 
the  Templars,  and  a  hospital  for  lepers.  He  made  several 
pilgrimages  to  Holy  Land  ;  and  so  I  think  it  as  likely  as  most 
theories  that  he  ought  to  have  the  credit  of  these  cedars. 

These  Earls  of  Warwick  appear  always  to  have  been  re- 
markably stirring  men  in  their  day  and  generation,  and  foremost 
in  whatever  was  gomg  on  in  the  world,  whether  political  or 
religious.  To  begin,  there  was  Guy,  Earl  of  Warwick, 
who  lived  somewhere  in  the  times  of  the  old  dispensation,  be- 
fore King  Arthur,  and  who  distmguished  himself,  according  to 
the  fashion  of  those  days,  by  killing  giants  and  various  colored 
dragons,  among  which  a  green  one  especially  figures.  It  ap- 
pears that  he  slew  also  a  notable  dun  cow,  of  a  kind  of  mas- 
todon breed,  which  prevailed  in  those  early  days,  which  was 
making  great  havoc  in  the  neighborhood.  In  later  times, 
w^hen   tlic   giants,   di'agons,  and   other   animals  of  that  sort 


2^8       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

were  somewhat  brought  under,  we  find  the  Earls  of  Warwick 
equally  busy  burning  and  slaying  to  the  right  and  left ;  now 
crusading  into  Palestine,  and  now  figliting  the  French,  who 
were  a  standing  resort  for  activity  when  nothing  else  was  to  be 
done ;  with  great  versatility  diversifying  these  affairs  with 
pilgrimages  to  the  holy  sepulchre,  and  founding  monasteries 
and  hospitals.  One  stout  earl,  after  going  to  Palestine 
and  laying  about  him  like  a  very  dragon  for  some  years, 
brought  home  a  live  Saracen  king  to  London,  and  had  him 
baptized  and  made  a  Christian  of,  vi  et  armis. 

During  the  scuffle  of  the  Roses,  it  was  a  Warwick,  of  course, 
wlio  was  uppermost.  Stout  old  Richard,  the  king  maker,  set 
up  first  one  party  and  then  the  other,  according  to  his  own 
sovereign  pleasure,  and  showed  as  much  talent  at  fighting  on 
both  sides,  and  keeping  the  country  in  an  uproar,  as  the  mod- 
ern politicians  of  "America. 

When  the  times  of  the  Long  Parliament  and  the  Common- 
wealth came,  an  Earl  of  Warwick  was  high  admiral  of  Eng- 
land, and  fought  valiantly  for  the  Commonwealth,  using  the  navy 
on  the  popular  side ;  and  his  grandson  married  th(^  youngest 
daughter  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  When  the  royal  family  was  to 
be  restored,  an  Earl  of  Warwick  was  one  of  the  six  lords  who 
were  sent  to  Holland  for  Charles  II.  IJhe  earls  of  this  family 
have  been  no  less  distinguished  for  movements  which  have 
favored  the  advance  of  civilization  and  letters  than  for 
energy  in  the  battle  field.  In  the  reign  of  Queen  Ehzabeth 
an  Earl  of  Warwick  founded  the  History  Lecture  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  left  a  salary  for  the  professor.  This  same  eai-1 
was  general  patron  of  letters  and  arts,  assisting  many  men  of 
talents,  and  was  a  particular  and  intimate  friend  of  Sir  Philip 
Sidney. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.      229 

"Wliat  more  especially  concerns  us  as  New  Englanders  is, 
that  an  carl  of  this  house  was  the  powerful  patron  and  pro- 
tector of  New  England  during  the  earlier  years  of  our  country. 
This  was  Robert  Greville,  the  high  admii-al  of  England  before 
alluded  to,  and  ever  looked  upon  as  a  protector  of  the 
Puritans.  Frequent  allusion  is  made  to  him  in  "Winthrop's 
Journal  as  performing  various  good  offices  for  them. 

The  first  grant  of  Connecticut  was  made  to  this  earl,  and 
by  him  assigned  to  Lord  Say  and  Seal,  and  Lord  Brooke. 
The  patronage  which  this  earl  extended  to  the  Puritans  is 
more  remarkable  because  in  principle  he  was  favorable  to 
Episcopacy.  It  appears  to  have  been  prompted  by  a  chival- 
rous sense  of  justice ;  probably  the  same  which  influenced  old 
Guy  of  "Warwick  in  the  Ejing  Arthur  times,  of  whom  the 
ancient  chronicler  says,  "  This  worshipful  knight,  in  his  acts 
of  warre,  ever  consydered  what  parties  had  wronge,  and 
therto  would  he  drawe." 

The  present  earl  has  never  taken  a  share  in  public  or  polit- 
ical life,  but  resided  entirely  on  his  estate,  devoting  himself  to 
the  improvement  of  his  ground  and  tenants.  He  received 
the  estate  much  embarrassed,  and  the  condition  of  the  tenant- 
ry was  at  that  time  quite  depressed.  By  the  devotion  of  his 
life  it  has  been  rendered  one  of  the  most  flourishing  and  pros- 
perous estates  in  this  part  of  England.  I  have  heard  him 
spoken  of  as  a  very  exemplary,  excellent  man.  He  is  now 
quite  advanced,  and  has  been  for  some  time  in  failing  health. 
He  sent  our  party  a  very  kind  and  obliging  message,  desiring 
that  we  would  consider  ourselves  fuUy  at  liberty  to  visit  any 
part  of  the  grounds  or  castle,  there  being  always  some  reser- 
vation as  to  what  tourists  may  visit. 

We  caught  glimpses  of  him  once  or  twice,  supported  by 
VOL.  I.  20 


230       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

attendants,  as  lie  was  taking  the  air  in  one  of  the  walks  of  the 
grounds,  and  afterwards  wheeled  about  in  a  garden  chair. 

The  family  has  thrice  died  out  in  tlie  direct  line,  and  been 
obliged  to  resuscitate  through  collateral  branches  ;  but  it  seems 
the  blood  holds  good  notwithstanding.  As  to  honors  there  is 
scarcely  a  possible  distinction  in  the  state  or  army  that  has 
not  at  one  time  or  other  been  the  property  of  this  family. 

Under  the  shade  of  these  lofty  cedars  they  have  sprung 
and  fallen,  an  hereditary  line  of  princes.  One  cannot  but  feel, 
in  looking  on  these  majestic  trees,  with  the  battlements,  tur- 
rets, and  towers  of  the  old  castle  every  where  surrounding 
him,  and  the  magnificent  parks  and  lawns  opening  through 
dreamy  vistas  of  trees  into  what  seems  immeasurable  distance, 
the  force  of  the  soliloquy  which  Shakspeare  puts  into  the 
mouth  of  the  dying  old  king  maker,  as  he  lies  breathing  out 
his  soul  in  the  dust  and  blood  of  the  battle  field :  — 

"  Thus  yields  tlic  cedar  to  the  axe's  edge, 
"Whose  arms  gave  shelter  to  the  princely  eagle, 
Under  whose  shade  the  rampant  lion  slept ; 
Whose  top  branch  ovcrpcered  Jove's  spreading  tree, 
And  kept  low  shrubs  from  winter's  powerful  wind. 
These  eyes,  that  now  are  dimmed  with  death's  black  veil. 
Have  been  as  piercing  as  the  midday  sun 
To  search  the  secret  treasons  of  the  world  : 
The  wrinkles  in  my  brow,  now  filled  with  blood, 
Were  likened  oft  to  kingly  sepulchres ; 
For  who  lived  king  but  I  could  dig  his  grave  ? 
And  who  durst  smile  when  Warwick  bent  his  brow  ? 
Lo,  now  my  glory  smeared  in  dust  and  blood  ! 
My  parks,  my  walks,  my  manors  that  I  had, 
Even  now  forsake  me  ;  and  of  all  my  lands 
Is  nothing  left  me  but  my  body's  length  ! 
Why,  what  is  pomp,  rule,  reign,  but  earth  and  dust  ? 
And  live  we  how  we  can,  yet  die  we  must." 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       231 

During  Shakspcarc's  life  Warwick  was  in  the  possession 
of  Greville,  the  friend  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  and  patron  of 
arts  and  letters.  It  is  not,  therefore,  improbable  that  Shak- 
speare  might,  in  his  times,  often  have  been  admitted  to  wander 
through  the  magnificent  grounds,  and  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  the  sight  of  these  majestic  cedars  might  have  suggested 
the  noble  unage  in  this  soUloqu  j.  It  is  only  about  eight  miles 
from  Stratford,  within  the  fair  limits  of  a  comfortable  pedes- 
trian excursion,  and  certainly  could  not  but  have  been  an 
object  of  deep  interest  to  such  a  mind  as  his. 

I  have  described  the  grounds  first,  but,  in  fact,  we  did  not 
look  at  them  first,  but  went  into  the  house  where  we  saw  not 
only  all  the  state  rooms,  but,  through  the  kindness  of  the  noble 
proprietor,  many  of  those  which  are  not  commonly  exhibited ; 
a  bewildering  display  of  magnificent  apartments,  pictures, 
gems,  vases,  arms  and  armor,  antiques,  all,  in  short,  that  the 
w^ealth  of  a  princely  and  powerful  family  had  for  centuries 
been  accumulating. 

The  great  hall  of  the  castle  is  sixty- 
two  feet  in  length  and  forty  in  breadth, 
ornamented  with  a  richly  carved  Goth- 
ic roof,  in  which  figures  largely  the 
family  cognizance  of  the  bear  and 
ragged  staff.  There  is  a  succession  of 
shields,  on  which  are  emblazoned  the 
quarterings  of  successive  Earls  of 
Warwick.  The  sides  of  the  wall  are 
ornamented    with    lances,    corselets, 

shields,  helmets,  and  complete  suits  of  armor,  regularly  ar- 
ranged as  in  an  armory.  Here  I  learned  what  the  buff  coat 
is,  wluch  had  so  often  puzzled  me  in  reading  Scott's  descrip- 


232       SUNNY  MEMOUIKS  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

tions,  as  there  were  several  hanging  up  here.  It  seemed  to 
be  a  loose  doublet  of  chamois  leather,  which  was  worn  under 
the  armor,  and  protected  the  body  from  its  harshness. 

Here  we  saw  the  helmet  of  Cromwell,  a  most  venerable 
relic.  Before  the  great,  cavernous  fireplace  was  piled  up  on 
a  sled  a  quantity  of  yew  tree  wood.  The  rude  simplicity 
of  thus  arranging  it  on  the  polished  floor  of  this  magnificent 
apartment  struck  me  as  quite  singular.  I  suppose  it  is  a 
continuation  of  some  ancient  custom. 

Opening  from  this  apartment  on  either  side  are  suits  of 
rooms,  the  whole  series  being  three  hundred  and  thirty-three 
feet  in  length.  These  rooms  are  all  hung  with  pictures,  and 
studded  with  antiques  and  curiosities  of  immense  value.  There 
is,  first,  the  red  drawing  room,  and  then  the  cedar  drawing 
room,  then  the  gilt  drawing  room,  the  state  bed  room,  the 
boudoir.  Sec,  &c.,  hung  with  pictures  by  Vandyke,  Rubens, 
Guide,  Sir  Joshua  lleynolds,  Paul  Veronese,  any  one  of 
which  would  require  days  of  study;  of  course,  the  casual 
glance  that  one  could  give  them  in  a  rapid  survey  would  not 
amount  to  much. 

We  were  shown  one  table  of  gems  and  lapis  lazuli,  which 
cost  what  would  be  reckoned  a  comfortable  fortune  in  New 
England.  For  matters  of  this  kind  I  have  little  sympathy.  The 
canvas,  made  vivid  by  the  soul  of  an  inspired  artist,  tells  me 
something  of  God's  power  in  creating  that  soul ;  but  a  table 
of  gems  is  in  no  wise  mteresting  to  me,  except  so  far  as  it  is 
pretty  in  itself. 

I  walked  to  one  of  the  windows  of  these  lordly  apartments, 
and  while  the  company  were  examining  buhl  cabinets,  and  all 
other  dcliciousness  of  the  place,  I  looked  down  the  old  gray 
walls  into  the  amber  waters  of  the  Avon,  which  flows  at  their 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  233 

base,  and  thought  that  the  most  beautiful  of  all  was  without. 
There  is  a  tiny  fall  that  crosses  the  river  just  above  here, 
whose  waters  turn  the  wheels  of  an  old  mossj  mill,  where  for 
centuries  the  family  grain  has  been  ground.  The  river  winds 
away  through  the  beautiful  parks  and  undulating  fohage,  its 
soft,  gi'assy  banks  dotted  here  and  there  with  sheep  and  cattle, 
and  you  catch  farewell  gleams  and  gUtters  of  it  as  it  loses 
itself  among  the  trees. 

Gray  moss,  wall  flowers,  ivy,  and  grass  were  growing  here 
and  there  out  of  crevices  in  the  castle  walls,  as  I  looked  do^vn, 
sometimes  trailing  their  rippling  tendrils  in  the  river.  This 
vegetative  propensity  of  walls  is  one  of  the  chief  graces  of 
these  old  buildings. 

In  the  state  bed  room  were  a  bed  and  furnishings  of  rich 
crimson  velvet,  once  belonging  to  Queen  Anne,  and  presented 
by  George  III.  to  the  Warwick  family.  The  walls  are  hung 
with  Brussels  tapestry,  representing  the  gardens  of  Versailles 
as  they  were  at  the  time.  The  chimney-piece,  which  is  sculp- 
tured of  verde  antique  and  white  marble,  supports  two  black 
marble  vases  on  its  mantel.  Over  the  mantel-piece  is  a  full- 
length  portrait  of  Queen  Anne,  in  a  rich  brocade  dress,  wear- 
ing the  collar  and  jewels  of  the  Garter,  bearing  in  one  hand  a 
sceptre,  and  in  the  other  a  globe.  There  are  two  splendid 
buhl  cabinets  in  the  room,  and  a  table  of  costly  stone  from 
Italy ;  it  is  mounted  on  a  richly  carved  and  gilt  stand. 

The  boudoir,  which  adjoins,  is  hung  with  pea-green  satin 
and  velvet.  In  this  room  is  one  of  the  most  authentic  por- 
traits of  Henry  YIIL,  by  Holbein,  in  which  that  selfish,  brutal, 
unfeeling  tyrant  is  veritably  set  forth,  with  all  the  gold  and 
gems  which,  in  his  day,  blinded  mankind ;  his  fat,  white  hands 
were  beautifully  painted.  Men  have  found  out  Henry  VHI. 
20* 


234  SUNNY   ME1I0KIE3    OF   FOKEIGN    LANDS. 

bj  this  time  ;  he  is  a  dead  sinner,  and  notliing  more  is  to  be 
expected  of  him,  and  so  he  gets  a  just  award ;  but  the  dispo- 
sition which  bows  down  and  worships  any  thing  of  any  char- 
acter in  our  day  which  is  splendid  and  successful,  and  excuses 
all  moral  delinquencies,  if  they  are  only  available,  is  not  a 
whit  better  than  that  which  cringed  before  Henry. 

In  the  same  room  was  a  boar  hunt,  by  Rubens,  a  disagree- 
able subject,  but  wrought  with  wonderful  power.  There  were 
several  other  pictures  of  Holbein's  in  this  room ;  one  of 
Martin  Luther. 

"We  passed  through  a  long  corridor,  whose  sides  were  lined 
with  pictures,  statues,  busts,  &:c.  Out  of  the  multitude,  three 
particularly  interested  me ;  one  was  a  noble  but  melancholy 
bust  of  the  Black  Prince,  beautifully  chiselled  in  white  mar- 
ble ;  another  was  a  plaster  cast,  said  to  have  been  taken  of 
the  face  of  Oliver  Cromwell  immediately  after  death.  The 
face  had  a  homely  strength  amounting  almost  to  coarseness. 
The  evidences  of  its  genuineness  appear  in  glancing  at  it ; 
every  thing  is  authentic,  even  to  the  wart  on  his  lip ;  no  one 
would  have  imagined  such  a  one,  but  the  expression  was 
noble  and  peaceful,  bringing  to  mind  the  oft-quoted  words,  — 

"After  life's  fitful  fever,  he  sleeps  well." 

At  the  end  of  the  same  corridor  is  a  splendid  picture  of 
Charles  I.  on  horseback,  by  Vandyke,  a  most  masterly  per- 
formance, and  appearing  in  its  position  almost  like  a  reality. 
Poor  Charles  had  rather  hard  measure,  it  always  seemed  to 
me.  He  simply  did  as  all  other  princes  had  done  before  him ; 
that  is  to  say,  he  lied  steadily,  invariably,  and  conscientiously, 
in  every  instance  where  he  thought  he  could  gain  any  thing  by 
it,  just  as  Chai'les  V.,  and  Francis  IV.,  and  Catharine  de  Med- 


SU^'NY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  235 

icis,  and  Henry  VIII.,  and  Elizabeth,  and  James,  and  all  good 
royal  folks  had  always  done ;  and  lo  !  he  must  lose  his  head 
for  it.  His  was  altogether  a  more  gentlemanly  and  respecta- 
ble performance  than  that  of  Henry,  not  wanting  in  a  sort  of 
ideal  magnificence,  which  his  brutal  predecessor,  or  even  his 
shambling  old  father  never  dreamed  of.  But  so  it  is ;  it  is 
not  always  on  those  who  are  sinners  above  all  men  that  the 
tower  of  Siloam  falls,  but  only  on  those  who  happen  to  be 
under  it  when  its  time  comes.  So  I  intend  to  cherish  a  little 
partiahty  for  gentlemanly,  magnificent  Charles  I. ;  and  cer- 
tainly one  could  get  no  more  splendid  idea  of  him  than  by 
seeing  him  stately,  silent,  and  melancholy  on  his  white  horse, 
at  the  end  of  this  long  corridor.  There  he  sits,  facing  the 
calm,  stony,  sleeping  face  of  Oliver,  and  neither  question  or 
reply  passes  between  them. 

From  this  corridor  we  went  into  the  chapel,  whose  Gothic 
windows,  filled  with  rich,  old  painted  glass,  cast  a  many-col- 
ored light  over  the  oak-carved  walls  and  altar-piece.  The 
ceiling  is  of  fine,  old  oak,  wrought  with  the  arms  of  the  fami- 
ly. The  window  over  the  altar  is  the  gift  of  the  Earl  of 
Essex.  This  room  is  devoted  to  the  daily  religious  worship 
of  the  family.  It  has  been  the  custom  of  the  present  earl 
in  former  years  to  conduct  the  devotions  of  the  family  here 
himself. 

About  this  time  my  head  and  eyes  came  to  that  point  which 
Solomon  intimates  to  be  not  commonly  arrived  at  by  mortals — 
when  the  eye  is  satisfied  with  seeing,  I  remember  a  confused 
ramble  through  apartment  after  apartment,  but  not  a  single 
thing  in  them  except  two  pictures  of  Salvator  Rosa's,  which  I 
thought  extremely  ugly,  and  was  told,  as  people  always  are 
when  they  make   such   declarations,  that  the  difficulty  was 


23G       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

entirely  in  myself,  and  that  if  I  would  study  tliem  two  or 
three  months  in  Hiith,  I  should  perceive  something  very  aston- 
ishing. This  may  be,  but  it  holds  equally  good  of  the  coals 
of  an  evening  fire,  or  the  sparks  on  a  chimney  back  ;  in  either 
of  which,  by  resolute  looking,  and  some  imagination,  one  can 
see  any  thing  he  chooses.  I  utterly  distrust  this  process,  by 
which  old  black  pictures  are  looked  into  shape ;  but  then  I 
have  nothing  to  lose,  being  in  the  court  of  the  Gentiles  in 
these  matters,  and  obstinately  determined  not  to  believe  in 
any  real  presence  in  art  which  I  cannot  perceive  by  my 
senses. 

After  having  examined  all  the  upper  stories,  we  went  down 
into  the  vaults  undcrnec^h  —  vaults  once  grim  and  hoary,  ter- 
rible to  captives  and  feudal  enemies,  now  devoted  to  no  pur- 
pose more  grim  than  that  of  coal  cellars  and  wine  vaidts.  In 
Oliver's  time,  a  regiment  was  quartered  there :  they  are  exten- 
sive enough,  apparently,  for  an  army. 

The  kitchen  and  its  adjuncts  are  of  magnificent  dimensions, 
and  indicate  an  amplitude  in  the  way  of  provision  for  good 
cheer  worthy  an  ancient  house  ;  and  what  struck  me  as  a  still 
better  feature  was  a  library  of  sound,  sensible,  historical,  and 
religious  works  for  the  servants. 

"We  went  into  the  beer  vaults,  where  a  man  drew  beer  into 
a  long  black  jack,  such  as  Scott  describes.  It  is  a  tankard, 
made  of  black  leather,  I  should  tliink  half  a  yard  deep.  He 
drew  the  beer  from  a  large  hogshead,  and  offered  us  some  in 
a  glass.  It  looked  very  clear,  but,  on  tasting,  I  found  it  so 
exceedingly  bitter  that  it  struck  me  there  would  be  small 
virtue  for  me  in  abstinence. 

In  passing  up  to  go  out  of  the  house,  we  met  in  the  entry 
two  pleasant-looking  young  women,  dressed  in  white  muslin. 


SUNNT   MEMORIES    OP   FOREIGN   LANDS.  237 

As  they  passed  us,  a  door  opened  wliere  a  table  was  hand- 
somely set  out,  at  which  quite  a  number  of  well-dressed  people 
were  seating  themselves.  I  withdrew  my  eyes  immediately, 
fearing  lest  I  had  violated  some  privacy.  Our  conductor  said 
to  us,  "  That  is  the  upper  servants'  dining  room." 

Once  in  the  yard  again,  we  went  to  see  some  of  the  older 
parts  of  the  building.  The  oldest  of  these,  Caesar's  Tower, 
which  is  said  to  go  back  to  the  time  of  the  Romans,  is  not 
now  shown  to  visitors.  Beneath  it  is  a  dark,  damp  dungeon, 
where  prisoners  used  to  be  confined,  the  walls  of  which  are 
traced  all  over  with  inscriptions  and  rude  drawings. 

Then  you  are  conducted  to  Guy's  Tower,  named,  I  suppose, 
after  the  hero  of  the  green  dragon  and  dun  cow.  Here  are 
five  tiers  of  guard  rooms,  and  by  the  ascent  of  a  hundred  and 
thirty-three  steps  you  reach  the  battlements,  where  you  gain 
a  view  of  the  whole  court  and  grounds,  as  well  as  of  the  beau- 
tiful surrounding  landscape. 

In  coming  down  from  tliis  tower,  we  somehow  or  other 
got  upon  the  ramparts,  which  connect  it  with  the  great 
gate.  We  walked  on  the  wall  four  abreast,  and  played  that 
we  were  knights  and  ladies  of  the  olden  time,  walking  on  the 
ramparts.  And  I  picked  a  bough  from  an  old  pine  tree  that 
grew  over  our  heads ;  it  much  resembled  our  American  yel- 
low pitch  pine. 

Then  we  went  down  and  crossed  the  grounds  to  the  green- 
house, to  see  the  famous  Warwick  vase.  The  greenhouse  is 
built  with  a  Gothic  stone  front,  situated  on  a  fine  point  in  the 
landscape..  And  there,  on  a  pedestal,  surrounded  by  all  man- 
ner of  flowering  shrubs,  stands  this  celebrated  antique.  It  is 
of  white  marble,  and  was  found  at  the  bottom  of  a  lake  near 
Adrian's  villa,  in  Italy.    They  say  that  it  holds  a  hundred  and 


238       8UNKT  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

thirty-six  gallons;  constructed,  I  suppose,  in  the  roistering 
old  drinking  times  of  the  Roman  emperors,  when  men  seem 
to  have  discovered  that  the  grand  object  for  which  they  were 
sent  into  existence  was  to  perform  the  functions  of  wine 
skins.  It  is  beautifully  sculptured  with  grape  leaves,  and  the 
skin  and  claws  of  the  panther  —  these  latter  certainly  not 
an  inappropriate  emblem  of  the  god  of  wine,  beautiful,  but 
dauG^crous. 

Well,  now  it  was  all  done.  Mcrodach  Baladan  had  not  a 
more  perfect  expose  of  the  riches  of  Hezekiah  than  we  had 
of  the  glories  of  Warwick.  One  always  likes  to  see  the  most 
perfect  thing  of  its  kind ;  and  probably  this  is  the  most  perfect 
specimen  of  the  feudal  ages  yet  remairdng  in  England. 

As  I  stood  with  Joseph  Sturge  under  the  old  cedars  of  Leb- 
anon, and  watched  the  multitude  of  tourists,  and  parties  of 
pleasure,  who  were  thronging  the  walks,  I  said  to  him,  "  After 
all,  this  estabhshmcnt  amounts  to  a  public  museum  and  pleas- 
ure grounds  for  the  use  of  the  people."  lie  assented.  "And,'* 
said  I,  "  you  English  people  like  these  things  ;  you  like  these 
old  magnificent  seats,  kept  up  by  old  famiUes."  "  That  is  what 
I  tell  them,"  said  Joseph  Sturge.  "  I  tell  them  there  is  no 
danger  in  enlarging  the  suffrage,  for  the  people  would  not 
break  up  these  old  estabhshments  if  they  could."  On  that 
point,  of  course,  I  had  no  means  of  forming  an  opinion. 

One  cannot  view  an  institution  so  unlike  any  thing  we  have 
in  our  own  country  without  having  many  reflections  excited, 
for  one  of  these  estates  may  justly  be  called  an  institution  ;  it 
includes  within  itself  all  the  influence  on  a  community  of  a 
great  model  farm,  of  model  housekeeping,  of  a  general  mu- 
seum of  historic  remains,  and  of  a  gallery  of  fine  arts. 
It  is  a  fact  that  all  these  estabhslunents  through  England 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.       230 

are,  at  certain  fixed  liours,  tlirown  open  for  the  inspection  of 
whoever  may  choose  to  visit  them,  with  no  other  expense  than 
the  gi'atuity  which  custom  requires  to  be  given  to  the  servant 
who  shows  them.  I  noticed,  as  we  passed  from  one  part  of 
the  ground  to  another,  that  our  guides  changed — one  part  ap- 
parently being  the  perquisite  of  one  servant,  and  one  of  an- 
other. Many  of  the  servants  who  showed  them  appeared  to 
be  superannuated  men,  who  probably  had  this  post  as  one  of 
the  dignities  and  perquisites  of  their  old  age. 

The  influence  of  these  estates  on  the  community  cannot  but 
be  in  many  respects  beneficial,  and  should  go  some  way  to 
quahfy  the  prejudice  with  which  repubHcans  are  apt  to  con- 
temjDlate  any  thing  aristocratic  ;  for  although  the  legal  title  to 
these  things  inheres  in  but  one  man,  yet  in  a  very  important 
sense  they  belong  to  the  whole  community,  indeed,  tg  uni- 
versal humanity.  It  may  be  very  undesirable  and  unwise  to 
wish  to  imitate  these  institutions  in  America,  and  yet  it  may 
be  illiberal  to  undervalue  them  as  they  stand  in  England.  A 
man  would  not  build  a  house,  in  this  nineteenth  century,  on 
the  pattern  of  a  feudal  castle ;  and  yet  where  the  feudal  castle 
is  built,  surely  its  antique  grace  might  plead  somewhat  in  jts 
favor,  and  it  may  be  better  to  accommodate  it  to  modern  uses, 
than  to  level  it,  and  erect  a  modern  mansion  in  its  j)lace. 

Nor,  since  the  world  is  wide,  and  now  being  rapidly  united 
by  steam  into  one  country,  does  the  objection  to  these  tilings, 
on  account  of  the  room  they  take  up,  seem  so  great  as  former- 
ly. In  the  million  of  square  miles  of  the  globe  there  is  room 
enough  for  all  sorts  of  things. 

With  such  reflections  the  lover  of  the  picturesque  may 
comfort  himself,  hoping  that  lie  is  not  sinning  against  the  use- 
ful in  his  admh-ation  of  the  beautiful. 


240       SUNNr  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

One  great  achievement  of  the  millennium,  I  trust,  will  be  in 
uniting  these  two  elements,  which  have  ever  been  contending. 
There  was  great  significance  in  the  old  Greek  fable  which 
represented  Venus  as  the  divinely-appointed  helpmeet  of  Vul- 
can, and  yet  always  quarrelling  with  him. 

We  can  scarce  look  at  the  struggling,  earth-bound  condition 
of  useful  labor  tlu'ough  the  world  without  joining  in  the  beau- 
tiful aspiration  of  our  American  poet,  — 

**  Surely,  the  \Tiser  time  shall  come 
When  this  fine  overplus  of  might, 
No  longer  sullen,  slow,  and  dumb, 
Shall  leap  to  music  and  to  light. 

In  that  new  childhood  of  the  world 

Life  of  itself  shall  dance  and  play, 
Fresh  blood  through  Time's  shrunk  veins  be  hurled, 

And  labor  meet  delight  half  way."  * 

In  the  new  state  of  society  wliich  we  arc  trying  to  found  in 
America,  it  must  be  our  efibrt  to  hasten  the  consummation. 
These  great  estates  of  old  countries  may  keep  it  for  their 
share  of  the  matter  to  work  out  perfect  models,  while  we  will 
seize  the  ideas  thus  elaborated,  and  make  them  the  property 
of  the  million. 

As  we  were  going  out,  we  stopped  a  little  while  at  the  por- 
ter's lodge  to  look  at  some  relics. 

Now,  I  dare  say  that  you  have  been  thinking,  all  the 
while,  that  these  stories  about  the  wonderful  Guy  are  a  sheer 
fabrication,  or,  to  use  a  convenient  modem  term,  a  myth. 
Know,  then,  that  the  identical  armor  belonging  to  him  is  still 

*  James  Russell  Lowell's  "Beaver  Brook." 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       241 

preserved  here ;  to  wit,  the  sword,  about  seven  feet  long,  a 
shield,  helmet,  breastplate,  and  tilting  pole,  together  with  his 
porridge  pot,  which  holds  one  hundi'ed  and  twenty  gallons, 
and  a  large  fork,  as  they  call  it,  about  three  feet  long ;  I  am 
inclined  to  think  tliis  must  have  been  his  toothpick  I  His 
sword  weighs  twenty  pounds. 

There  is,  moreover,  a  rib  of  the  mastodon  cow  which  he 
killed,  hung  up  for  the  terror  of  all  refractory  beasts  of  that 
name  in  modern  days. 

Furthermore,  know,  then,  that  there  are  authentic  documents 
in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  at  Oxford,  showing  that  the  fam- 
ily run  back  to  within  four  years  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  so 
that  there  is  abundance  of  time  for  them  to  have  done  a  little 
of  almost  every  thing.  It  appears  that  they  have  been  al- 
ways addicted  to  exploits,  since  we  read  of  one  of  them,  soon 
after  the  Christian  era,  encountering  a  giant,  who  ran  upon 
him  with  a  tree  which  he  had  snapped  off  for  the  purpose,  for 
it  seems  giants  were  not  nice  in  the  choice  of  weapons ;  but 
the  chronicler  says,  "  The  Lord  had  grace  with  him,  and  over- 
came the  giant,"  and  in  commemoration  of  this  event  the 
family  introduced  into  their  arms  the  ragged  staflf. 

It  is  recorded  of  another  of  the  race,  that  he  was  one  of 
seven  children  born  at  a  birth,  and  that  all  the  rest  of  his 
brothers  and  sisters  were,  by  enchantment,  turned  into  swans 
with  gold  collars.  This  remarkable  case  occurred  in  the  time 
of  the  gi'andfather  of  Sir  Guy,  and  of  course,  if  we  beheve 
this,  we  shall  find  no  difficulty  in  the  case  of  the  cow,  or  any 
thing  else. 

There  is  a  very  scarce  book  in  the  possession  of  a  gentle- 
man of  Warwick,  written  by  one  Dr.  John  Kay,  or  Caius,  in 
which  he  gives  an  account  of  the  riu'c  and  peculiar  animals  of 
VOL.   I.  21 


242  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

England  in  1552.  In  this  he  mentioned  seeing  the  bones  of 
the  head  and  the  vertebra)  of  the  neck  of  an  enormous  animal 
at  AVai'wick  Castle,  lie  states  that  the  shoulder  blade  was 
hung  up  by  chains  from  the  north  gate  of  Coventry,  and  that 
a  rib  of  the  same  animal  was  hanging  up  in  the  chapel  of 
Guy,  Earl  of  "Warwick,  and  that  the  people  fancied  it  to  be 
the  rib  of  a  cow  which  haunted  a  ditch  near  Coventry,  and 
did  injury  to  many  persons ;  and  he  goes  on  to  imagine  that 
this  may  be  the  bone  of  a  bonasus  or  a  urus.  He  says,  "It 
is  probable  many  animals  of  this  kind  formerly  lived  in  our 
England,  being  of  old  an  island  full  of  woods  and  forests,  be- 
cause even  in  our  boyhood  the  horns  of  these  animals  were  in 
common  use  at  the  table."  The  story  of  Sir  Guy  is  further- 
more quite  romantic,  and  contains  some  circumstances  very 
instructive  to  all  ladies.  For  the  chronicler  asserts,  "that 
Dame  Felye,  daughter  and  heire  to  Erie  Rohand,  for  her 
beauty  called  Fely  le  Belle,  or  Felys  the  Fayre,  by  true  en- 
hcritance,  was  Countesse  of  Warwyke,  and  lady  and  wyfe  to 
the  most  victoriouse  Knight,  Sir  Guy,  to  whom  in  his  woing 
tyme  she  made  greate  straungeres,  and  caused  him,  for  her 
sake,  to  put  himself  in  meny  greate  distresses,  dangers,  and 
perills ;  but  when  they  were  wedded,  and  b'en  but  a  little  sea- 
son together,  he  departed  from  her,  to  her  greate  lievpies,  and 
never  was  conversant  with  her  after,  to  her  understandinge." 
That  this  may  not  appear  to  be  the  result  of  any  revengeful 
spirit  on  the  part  of  Sir  Guy,  the  chronicler  goes  on  further 
to  state  his  motives  —  that,  after  his  marriage,  considering 
what  he  had  done  for  a  woman's  sake,  he  thought  to  spend  the 
other  part  of  his  life  for  God's  sake,  and  so  departed  from  his 
huly  in  pilgrim  weeds,  which  raiment  he  kept  to  his  life's  end. 


SUNNY  MEMOHIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       243 

After  wandering  about  a  good  many  years  he  settled  in  a  her- 
mitage, in  a  place  not  far  from  the  castle,  called  Guy's  Cliff, 
and  when  his  lady  distributed  food  to  beggars  at  the  castle 
gate,  was  in  the  habit  of  coming  among  them  to  receive  alms, 
without  making  himself  known  to  her.  It  states,  moreover, 
that  two  days  before  his  death  an  angel  informed  him  of  the 
time  of  his  departure,  and  that  his  lady  would  die  a  fortnight 
after  him,  which  happening  accordingly,  they  were  both  buried 
in  the  grave  together.  A  romantic  cavern,  at  the  place 
called  Guy's  ChfF,  is  shown  as  the  dwelling  of  the  recluse. 
The  story  is  a  curious  rehc  of  the  rehgious  ideas  of  the 
times; 

On  our  way  from  the  castle  we  passed  by  Guy's  CUff,  which 
is  at  present  the  seat  of  the  Hon.  C.  B.  Percy.  The  estab- 
hshment  looked  beautifully  from  the  road,  as  we  saw  it  up  a 
long  avenue  of  trees ;  it  is  one  of  the  places  travellers  gener- 
ally examine,  but  as  we  were  bound  for  Kenilworth  we  were 
content  to  take  it  on  trust.  It  is  but  a  short  drive  from  there 
to  Kenilworth.  "We  got  there  about  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon. Kenilworth  has  been  quite  as  extensive  as  Warwick, 
though  now  entirely  gone  to  ruins.  I  believe  Oliver  Crom- 
well's army  have  the  credit  of  finally  dismantlmg  it.  Crom- 
well seems  literally  to  have  left  his  mark  on  his  generation,  for 
I  never  saw  a  ruin  in  England  when  I  did  not  hear  that  he 
had  something  to  do  with  it.  Every  broken  arch  and  ruined 
battlement  seemed  always  to  find  a  sufiicient  account  of  itself 
by  simply  enunciating  the  word  Cromwell.  And  when  we  see 
how  much  the  Puritans  arrayed  against  themselves  all  the 
aesthetic  principles  of  our  nature,  we  can  somewhat  pardon 
those  who  did  not  look  deeper  than  the  surface,  for  the  preju- 


244       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

dice  with  -vvliicli  they  regarded  tlie  whole  movement ;  a  move 
meiit,  however,  of  which  we,  and  all  which  is  most  precious  to 
us,  are  the  lineal  descendants  and  heirs. 

"We  wandered  over  the  ruins,  which  are  very  extensive, 
and  which  Scott,  with  his  usual  vivacity  and  accuracy,  has  re- 
stored and  repeopled.  "We  climbed  up  into  Amy  Robsart's 
chamber ;  we  scrambled  into  one  of  the  arched  windows  of 
what  was  formerly  the  great  dining  hall,  where  Elizabeth 
feasted  in  the  midst  of  her  lords  and  ladies,  and  where  every 
stone  had  rung  to  the  sound  of  merriment  and  revelry.  The 
windows  are  broken  out ;  it  is  roofless  and  floorless,  waving 
and  rusthng  with  pendent  ivy,  and  vocal  with  the  song  of 
hundreds  of  httle  birds. 

"We  wandered  from  room  to  room,  looking  up  and  seeing  in 
the  walls  the  desolate  fireplaces,  tier  over  tier,  the  places 
where  the  beams  of  the  floors  had  gone  into  the  walls,  and 
still  the  birds  continued  their  singing  every  where. 

Nothing  affected  me  more  than  this  ceaseless  singing  and 
rejoicing  of  birds  in  these  old  gray  ruins.  They  seemed  so 
perfectly  joyous  and  happy  amid  the  desolations,  so  airy  and 
fanciful  in  their  bursts  of  song,  so  ignorant  and  careless  of  the 
deep  meaning  of  the  gray  desolation  around  them,  that  I  could 
not  but  be  moved.  It  was  nothing  to  them  how  these  stately, 
sculptured  walls  became  lonely  and  ruinous,  and  all  the  weight 
of  a  thousand  thoughts  and  questionings  which  arise  to  us  is 
never  even  dreamed  by  them.  They  sow  not,  neither  do  they 
reap,  but  their  heavenly  Father  feeds  them ;  and  so  the  wil- 
derness and  the  desolate  place  is  glad  in  them,  and  they  are 
glad  in  the  wilderness  and  desolate  place. 

It  was  a  beautiful  conception,  this  making  of  birds.     Shel- 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       245 

ley  calls  them  "imbodicd  joys;"  and  Christ  says,  that  amid 
the  vaster  ruins  of  man's  desolation,  ruins  more  di-eadfully 
suo-o-estive  than  those  of  sculptured  frieze  and  architrave, 
we  can  yet  live  a  bird's  life  of  unanxious  joy ;  or,  as  Mar- 
tin Luther  beautifully  paraphrases  it,  "We  can  be  like  a 
bird,  that  sits  singing  on  his  twig  and  lets  God  think  for 
him." 

The  deep  consciousness  that  we  are  ourselves  ruined,  and 
that  this  world  is  a  desolation  more  awful,  and  of  more  sub- 
lime material,  and  wrought  from  stuff  of  higher  temper  than 
ever  was  sculptured  in  hall  or  cathedral,  this  it  must  be  that 
touches  such  deep  springs  of  sympathy  in  the  presence  of 
ruins.  We,  too,  are  desolate,  shattered,  and  scathed;  there 
are  traceries  and  columns  of  celestial  workmanship  ;  there  are 
heaven-aspiring  arches,  splendid  colonnades  and  halls,  but 
fragmentary  all.  Yet  above  us  bends  an  all-pitying  Heaven, 
and  spiritual  voices  and  callings  in  our  hearts,  Hke  these  Httle 
singing  bkds,  speak  of  a  time  w^hen  almighty  power  shall 
take  pleasure  in  these  stones,  and  favor  the  dust  thereof. 

We  sat  on  the  top  of  the  strong  tower,  and  looked  off  into 
the  country,  and  talked  a  good  Avhile.  Some  of  the  ivy  that 
mantles  this  building  has  a  trunk  as  large  as  a  man's  body, 
and  throws  out  numberless  strong  arms,  which,  interweaving, 
embrace  and  interlace  half-falHng  towers,  and  hold  them  up 
in  a  living,  growing  mass  of  green. 

The  walls  of  one  of  the  oldest  towers  are  sixteen  feet  thick. 
The  lake,  which  Scott  speaks  of,  is  dried  up  and  grown  over 
with  rushes.  The  former  moat  presents  only  a  grassy  hol- 
low. What  was  formerly  a  gate  house  is  still  inhabited  by 
the  family  who  have  the  care  of  the  building.  The  land 
21* 


246 


SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 


around  the  gate  house  is  choicely  and  carefully  laid  out,  and 
has  hi^'li,  clipped  hedges  of  a  species  of  variegated  holly. 
Thus  much  of  old  castles  and  ivy.     Farewell  to  Kenilworth. 


^^f\M  Ji 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       247 


LETTER    XII. 

My  dear  H.  :  — 

After  leaving  Kenilworth  we  drove  to  Coventry,  where  we 
took  tlie  cars  again.  This  whole  ride  from  Stratford  to  War- 
wick, and  on  to  Coventry,  answers  more  to  my  ideas  of  old 
England  than  any  thing  I  have  seen  ;  it  is  considered  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  parts  of  the  kingdom.  It  has  quaint  old 
houses,  and  a  certain  air  of  rural,  picturesque  quiet,  which 
is  very  charming. 

Coventry  is  old  and  queer,  with  narrow  streets  and  curious 
houses,  famed  for  the  ancient  legend  of  Godiva,  one  of  those 
beautiful  myths  that  grow,  like  the  mistletoe,  on  the  bare 
branches  of  history,  and  which,  if  they  never  were  true  in  the 
letter,  have  been  a  thousand  times  true  in  the  spirit. 

The  evening  came  on  raw  and  chilly,  so  that  we  rejoiced 
to  find  ourselves  once  more  in  the  curtained  parlor  by  the 
bright,  sociable  fire. 

As  we  were  drinking  tea  Elihu  Burritt  came  in.  It  was 
the  first  time  I  had  ever  seen  him,  though  I  had  heard  a  great 
deal  of  him  from  our  friends  in  Edinburgh.  He  is  a  man  in 
middle  life,  tall  and  slender,  with  fair  complexion,  blue  eyes, 
an  air  of  delicacy  and  refinement,  and  manners  of  great  gen- 
tleness. My  ideas  of  the  "  Learned  Blacksmith "  had  been 
of  something  altogether  more  ponderous  and  peremptory. 
Elihu  has  been,  for  some  years,  operating  in  England  and  on 
the  continent  in  a  movement  which  many,  in  our  half-Chris- 


248       SUNNY  MEMOEIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

tianized  time?,  regard  with  as  much  incredulity  as  the  grim, 
old,  warlike  barons  did  tlic  suspicious  imbecilities  of  reading  and 
Avriting.  The  sword  now,  as  then,  seems  so  much  more  direct 
a  way  to  tonninate  controversies,  that  many  Christian  men, 
even,  cannot  conceive  how  the  world  is  to  get  along  without  it, 

Burritt's  mode  of  operation  has  been  by  the  silent  organiza- 
tion of  circles  of  ladies  in  all  the  different  towns  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  who  raise  a  certain  sum  for  the  diffusion  of  the 
j^rinciplcs  of  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men.  Articles, 
setting  forth  the  evils  of  war,  moral,  political,  and  social,  being 
prepared,  these  circles  pay  for  their  insertion  in  all  the  princi- 
pal newspapers  of  the  continent.  They  have  secured  to 
themselves  in  this  way  a  continual  utterance  in  France,  Spain, 
Italy,  Switzerland,  Austria,  and  Germany ;  so  that  from  week 
to  week,  and  month  to  month,  they  can  insert  articles  upon 
these  subjects.  Many  times  the  editors  insert  the  articles  as 
editorial,  which  still  further  favors  tlieir  design.  In  addition 
to  this,  the  ladies  of  these  circles  in  England  correspond  with 
the  ladies  of  similar  circles  existing  in  other  countries ;  and 
in  this  way  there  is  a  mutual  kindliness  of  feeling  established 
through  these  countries. 

When  recently  war  was  threatening  between  England  and 
France,  through  the  influence  of  these  societies  conciliatory 
addresses  w^ere  sent  from  many  of  the  principal  towns  of  Eng- 
land to  many  of  the  principal  towns  of  France ;  and  the  effect 
of  these  measures  in  allaying  ii-ritation  and  agitation  was  very 
perc^tible. 

Furthermore,  these  societies  are  preparing  numerous  little 
books  for  children,  in  which  the  principles  of  peace,  kindness, 
and  mutual  forbearance  are  constantly  set  forth,  and  the  evil 
and  unchristian  nature  of  the  mere  collision  of  brute  force 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       249 

exemplified  in  a  thousand  ways.  These  tracts  also  are  re- 
printed in  the  other  modern  languages  of  Europe,  and  are 
becoming  a  pai't  of  family  literature. 

The  object  had  in  view  by  those  in  this  movement  is,  the 
general  disbandment  of  standing  armies  and  wai-Uke  estab- 
lishments, and  the  aiTangement,  in  their  place,  of  some  settled 
system  of  national  arbitration.  They  suggest  the  organization 
of  some  tribunal  of  international  law,  which  shall  correspond 
to  the  position  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
with  reference  to  the  several  states.  The  fact  that  the  several 
states  of  our  Union,  though  each  a  distinct  sovereignty,  yet 
agree  in  this  arrangement,  is  held  up  as  an  instance  of  its 
practicability.  These  ideas  are  not  to  be  considered  entire- 
ly chimerical,  if  we  reflect  that  commerce  and  trade  are  as 
essentially  opposed  to  war  as  is  Christianity.  War  is  the  death 
of  commerce,  manufactures,  agriculture,  and  the  fine  arts. 
Its  evil  results  are  always  certain  and  definite,  its  good  results 
scattered  and  accidental.  The  whole  current  of  modern  soci- 
ety is  as  much  against  war  as  against  slavery ;  and  the  time 
must  certainly  come  when  some  more  rational  and  humane 
mode  of  resolving  national  difiiculties  will  prevail. 

When  we  ask  these  reformers  how  people  are  to  be  freed 
from  the  yoke  of  despotism  without  war,  they  answer,  "  By  the 
diffusion  of  ideas  among  the  masses  —  by  teaching  the  bayonets 
to  think."  They  say,  "  If  we  convince  every  individual  soldier 
of  a  despot's  army  that  war  is  ruinous,  immoral,  and  unchris- 
tian, we  take  the  instrument  out  of  the  tyrant's  hand.  If <each 
individual  man  would  refuse  to  rob  and  murder  for  the  Em- 
peror of  Austria,  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  where  would  be 
their  power  to  hold  Hungary?  What  gave  power  to  the 
masses  in  the  French   revolution,  but  that  the  army,  per- 


250  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN   LANDS. 

vaded  by  new  ideas,  refused  any  longer  to  keep  the  people 
down  ?  " 

These  views  are  daily  gaining  strength  in  England.  They 
are  supported  by  the  whole  body  of  the  Quakei'S,  who  niain- 
tain  them  with  tliut  degree  of  inflexible  perseverance  and 
never-dying  activity  which  have  rendered  the  benevolent  ac- 
tions of  that  body  so  efficient.  The  object  that  they  are  aim- 
ing at  is  one  most  certain  to  be  accomplished,  infallible  as  the 
prediction  that  swords  are  to  be  beaten  into  ploughshares,  and 
spears  into  pruning-hooks,  and  that  nations  shall  learn  war  no 
more. 

This  movement,  small  and  despised  in  its  origin,  has  gained 
strength  from  year  to  year,  and  now  has  an  effect  on  the  pub- 
lic opinion  of  England  which  is  quite  perceptible. 

We  spent  the  evening  in  talking  over  these  things,  and  also 
various  topics  relating  to  the  antislavery  movement.  Mr. 
Sturge  was  very  confident  that  something  more  was  to  be 
done  than  had  ever  been  done  yet,  by  combinations  for  the 
encouragement  of  free,  in  the  place  of  slave-grown,  produce ; 
a  question  which  has,  ever  since  the  days  of  Clarkson,  more 
or  less  deeply  occupied  the  minds  of  abolitionists  in  England. 

I  should  say  that  Mr.  Sturge  in  his  family  has  for  many 
years  conscientiously  forborne  the  use  of  any  article  produced 
by  slave  labor.  I  could  scarcely  believe  it  possible  that  there 
could  be  such  an  abundance  and  variety  of  all  that  is  comfort- 
able and  desirable  in  the  various  departments  of  household 
living  within  these  limits.  Mr.  Sturge  presents  the  subject 
with  very  great  force,  the  more  so  from  the  consistency  of  his 
example. 

From  what  I  have  since  observed,  as  well  as  from  what  they 
said,  I  should  imagine  that  the  Quakers  generally  pursue  this 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       251 

course  of  entire  sef)aration  from  all'  connection  with  slavery, 
even  in  the  disuse  of  its  products.  The  subject  of  the  disuse 
of  slave-grown  produce  has  obtained  currency  in  the  same 
sphere  in  which  Elihu  Burritt  operates,  and  has  excited  the 
attention  of  the  Olive  Leaf  Circles.  Its  prospects  are  not  so 
weak  as  on  first  view  might  be  imagined,  if  we  consider  that 
Great  Britain  has  large  tracts  of  cotton-growing  land  at  her 
disposal  in  India.  It  has  been  calculated  that,  were  suitable 
railroads  and  arrangements  for  transportation  provided  for 
India,  cotton  could  be  raised  in  that  empire  sufficient  for  the 
whole  wants  of  England,  at  a  rate  much  cheaper  than  it  can 
be  imported  from  America.  Not  only  so,  but  they  could  then 
afford  to  furnish  cotton  cheaper  at  Lowell  than  the  same  arti- 
cle could  be  procured  from  the  Southern  States. 

It  is  consolatory  to  know  that  a  set  of  men  have  undertaken 
this  work  whose  perseverance  in  any  thing  once  begun  has  never 
been  daunted.  Slave  labor  is  becoming  every  year  more  ex- 
pensive in  America.  The  wide  market  which  has  been  opened 
for  it  has  raised  it  to  such  an  extravagant  price  as  makes  the 
stocking  of  a  plantation  almost  ruinous.  If  England  enters 
the  race  with  free  labor,  which  has  none  of  these  expenses, 
and  none  of  the  risk,  she  will  be  sure  to  succeed.  All  the 
forces  of  nature  go  with  free  labor ;  and  all  the  forces  of  na- 
ture resist  slave  labor.  The  stars  in  then'  courses  fight  against 
it ;  and  it  cannot  but  be  that  ere  long  some  way  will  be  found 
to  bring  these  two  forces  to  a  decisive  issue. 

Mr.  Sturge  seemed  exceedingly  anxious  that  the  American 
states  should  adopt  the  theory  of  immediate,  and  not  gradual, 
emancipation.  I  told  him  the  great  difficulty  was  to  persuade 
them  to  think  of  any  emancipation  at  all ;  that  the  present 
disposition  was  to  treat  slavery  as  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 


252  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

truth,  the  ark  of  religion,*  the  summary  of  morals,  and  the  only 
true  millennial  form  of  modern  society. 

He  gave  me,  however,  a  little  account  of  their  antislavery 
struggles  in  England,  and  said,  what  was  well  worthy  of  note, 
that  they  made  no  apparent  progress  in  affecting  public  opinion 
until  they  firmly  advocated  the  right  of  every  innocent  being 
to  immediate  and  complete  freedom,  without  any  conditions. 
He  said  that  a  woman  is  fairly  entitled  to  the  credit  of  this 
suggestion.  Elizabeth  Heyrick  of  Leicester,  a  member  of  the 
society  of  Friends,  published  a  pamphlet  entitled  Immediate, 
not  Gradual  Emancipation.  This  little  pamphlet  contains 
much  good  sense ;  and,  being  put  forth  at  a  time  when  men 
were  really  anxious  to  know  the  truth,  produced  a  powerful 
impression. 

She  remarked,  very  sensibly,  that  the  difficulty  had  arisen 
from  indistinct  ideas  in  respect  to  what  is  implied  in  emancipa- 
tion. She  went  on  to  show  that  emancipation  did  not  imply 
freedom  from  government  and  restraint ;  that  it  properly 
brought  a  slave  under  the  control  of  the  law,  instead  of  that 
of  an  individual ;  and  that  it  was  possible  so  to  apply  law  as 
perfectly  to  control  the  emancipated.  This  is  an  idea  which 
seems  simple  enough  when  pointed  out ;  but  men  often 
stumble  a  long  while  before  they  discover  what  is  most 
obvious. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday ;  and,  in  order  to  preserve  our 
incognito,  and  secure  an  uninterrupted  rest,  free  from  conver- 
sation and  excitement,  we  were  obliged  to  deprive  ourselves 
of  the  pleasure  of  hearing  our  friend  Rev.  John  Angell  James, 
which  we  had  much  desired  to  do. 

It  was  a  warm,  pleasant  day,  and  we  spent  much  of  our 
time  in  a  beautiful  arbor  constructed  in  a  retired  place  in  the 


SUNNY   ME3I0RIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  253 

garden,  where  the  trees  and  shrubbery  were  so  arranged  as  to 
make  a  most  charming  retreat. 

The  grounds  of  Mr.  Sturge  are  very  near  to  those  of  his 
brother  —  only  a  narrow  road  interposing  between  them. 
They  have  contrived  to  make  them  one  by  building  under  this 
road  a  subterranean  passage,  so  that  the  two  families  can  pa.<s 
and  repass  into  each  other's  grounds  in  perfect  privacy. 

These  English  gardens  delight  me  much  ;  they  unite  varie- 
ty, quaintness,  and  an  imitation  of  the  wildness  of  nature  with 
the  utmost  care  and  cultivation.  I  was  particularly  pleased 
with  the  rockwork,  which  at  times  formed  the  walls  of  certain 
walks,  the  hollows  and  interstices  of  which  were  filled  with 
every  variety  of  creeping  plants.  Mr.  Sturge  told  me  that 
the  substance  of  which  these  rockeries  are  made  is  sold  ex- 
pressly for  the  purpose. 

On  one  side  of  the  grounds  was  an  old-fashioned  cottage, 
which  one  of  my  friends  informed  me  Mr.  Sturge  formerly 
kept  fitted  up  as  a  water  cure  hospital,  for  those  whose  means 
did  not  allow  them  to  go  to  larger  establishments.  The  plan 
was  afterwards  abandoned.  One  must  see  that  such  an  enter- 
prise would  have  many  practical  difficulties. 

At  noon  we  dined  in  the  house  of  the  other  brother,  Mr. 
Edmund  Sturge.  Here  I  noticed  a  full-length  engraving  of 
Joseph  Sturge.  He  is  represented  as  standing  with  his  hand 
placed  protectingly  on  the  head  of  a  black  cliild. 

We  enjoyed  our  quiet  season  with  these  two  families  ex- 
ceedingly. "We  seemed  to  feel  ourselves  in  an  atmosphere 
where  all  was  peace  and  good  will  to  man.  The  little  chil- 
di-en,  after  dinner,  took  us  tlirough  the  walks,  to  show  us  their 
beautiful  rabbits  and  other  pets.  Every  thing  seemed  in 
order,  peaceable  and  quiet.  Towards  evening  we  went  back 
VOL.  1.  22 


254       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

tlirough  the  arched  passage  to  the  other  house  again.  My 
Sunday  here  has  ahvays  seemed  to  me  a  pleasant  kind  of  pas- 
toral, much  like  the  communion  of  Christian  and  Faithful 
with  the  shej^herds  on  the  Delectable  Mountains. 

Wliat  is  remarkable  of  all  these  Friends  is,  that,  although 
they  have  been  called,  in  the  prosecution  of  philanthropic  en- 
terprises, to  encounter  so  much  opposition,  and  see  so  much  of 
the  unfavorable  side  of  human  nature,  they  are  so  habitually 
free  from  any  tinge  of  uncharitableness  or  evil  speaking  in 
their  statements  with  regard  to  the  character  and  motives  of 
others.  There  is  also  an  habitual  avoidance  of  all  exaggerated 
forms  of  statement,  a  sobriety  of  diction,  which,  united  with 
great  affectionateness  of  manner,  inspires  the  warmest  con- 
lidence. 

C.  had  been,  with  Mr.  Sturge,  during  the  afternoon,  to  a 
meeting  of  the  Friends,  and  heard  a  discourse  from  Sibyl 
Jones,  one  of  the  most  popular  of  their  female  preachers. 
Sibyl  is  a  native  of  the  town  of  Brunswick,  m  the  State  of 
Maine.  She  and  her  husband,  being  both  preachers,  have 
travelled  extensively  in  the  prosecution  of  various  philan- 
tliropic  and  religious  enterprises. 

In  the  evening  Mr.  Sturge  said  that  she  had  expressed  a 
desire  to  see  me.  Accordingly  I  went  with  him  to  call  upon 
her,  and  found  her  in  the  family  of  two  aged  Friends,  sur- 
rounded by  a  circle  of  the  same  denomination.  She  is  a  wo- 
man of  great  delicacy  of  appearance,  betokening  very  frail 
health.  I  am  told  that  she  is  most  of  her  time  in  a  state  of 
extreme  suffering  from  neuralgic  complaints.  There  was  a 
niingled  expression  of  enthusiasm  and  tenderness  in  her  face 
wliit'li  was  very  interesting.  She  had  had,  according  to  the 
language  of  her  sect,  a  concern  upon  her  mind  for  me. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       255 

To  my  mind  there  is  sometliing  peculiarly  interesting  nbout 
tliat  primitive  simplicity  and  frankness  with  which  the  mem- 
bers of  this  body  express  themselves.  She  desired  to  caution 
me  against  the  temptations  of  too  much  flattery  and  applause, 
and  against  the  worldhness  which  might  beset  me  in  London. 
Her  manner  of  addressing  me  was  like  one  who  is  commis- 
sioned with  a  message  which  must  be  spoken  with  plainness 
and  sincerity.  After  this  the  whole  circle  kneeled,  and  she 
offered  prayer.  I  was  somewhat  painfully  impressed  with  her 
evident  fragility  of  body,  compared  with  the  enthusiastic  work- 
ings of  her  mind. 

In  the  course  of  the  conversation  she  inquired  if  I  was  go- 
ing to  Ireland.  I  told  her,  yes,  that  was  my  intention.  She 
begged  that  I  would  visit  the  western  coast,  adding,  with  great 
feeling,  "  It  was  the  miseries  which  I  saw  there  which  have 
brought  my  health  to  the  state  it  is."  She  had  travelled  ex- 
tensively in  the  Southern  States,  and  had,  in  private  conver- 
sation, been  able  very  fully  to  bear  her  witness  against  slavery, 
and  had  never  been  heard  with  unkindness. 

The  whole  incident  afforded  me  matter  for  reflection.  The 
calling  of  women  to  distinct  religious  vocations,  it  appeal's  to 
me,  was  a  part  of  primitive  Christianity ;  has  been  one  of  the 
most  efficient  elements  of  power  in  the  Romish  church ;  ob- 
tained among  the  Methodists  in  England  ;  and  has,  in  all  these 
cases,  been  productive  of  great  good.  The  deaconesses  whom 
the  apostle  mentions  with  honor  in  his  epistle,  Madame  Guy- 
on  in  the  Romish  church,  Mrs.  Fletcher,  Elizabeth  Fry,  are 
instances  which  show  how  much  may  be  done  for  mankind  by 
women  who  feel  themselves  impelled  to  a  special  religious  vo- 
cation. 

The  Bible,  which  always  favors  liberal  development,  coun- 


25G       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  rOREIGN  LANDS. 

tenances  tliis  idea,  by  the  instances  of  Deborah,  Anna  ihc 
proi>hctess,  and  by  allusions  in  the  New  Testament,  which 
plainly  show  that  the  prophetic  gift-  descended  upon  women. 
St.  Peter,  quoting  from  the  prophetic  writings,  says,  "  Upon 
your  sons  and  upon  your  daughters  I  will  pour  out  my  spirit, 
jmd  they  shall  prophesy."  And  St.  Paul  alludes  to  women 
praying  and  prophesying  in  the  public  assemblies  of  the  Chris- 
tians, and  only  enjoins  that  it  should  be  done  with  becoming 
attention  to  the  established  usages  of  female  delicacy.  The 
example  of  the  Quakers  is  a  sufficient  proof  that  acting  upon 
this  idea  does  not  produce  discord  and  domestic  disorder.  No 
class  of  people  are  more  remarkable  for  quietness  and  propri- 
ety of  deportment,  and  for  household  order  and  domestic  ex- 
cellence. By  the  admission  of  this  liberty,  the  world  is  now 
and  then  gifted  with  a  woman  like  Elizabeth  Fry,  while  the 
family  state  loses  none  of  its  security  and  sacredness.  No  one 
in  our  day  can  charge  the  ladies  of  the  Quaker  sect  with  bold- 
ness or  indecorum ;  and  they  have  demonstrated  that  even 
public  teaching,  when  performed  under  the  influence  of  an 
overpowering  devotional  spirit,  does  not  interfere  with  femi- 
nine propriety  and  modesty. 

The  fact  is,  that  the  number  of  women  to  whom  this  voca- 
tion is  given  will  ahvays  be  comparatively  few  :  they  are,  and 
generally  will  be,  exceptions ;  and  the  majority  of  the  religious 
world,  ancient  and  modern,  has  decided  that  these  exceptions 
are  to  be  treated  with  reverence. 

The  next  morning,  as  we  were  sitting  down  to  breakfast, 
our  friends  of  the  other  house  sent  in  to  me  a  plate  of  the 
largest,  finest  strawberries  I  have  ever  seen,  which,  consider- 
ing that  it  was  only  the  latter  part  of  April,  seemed  to  me 
quite  an  astonishing  luxury. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       257 

On  the  morning  before  we  left  we  had  agreed  to  meet  a  cir- 
cle of  friends  from  Birmingham,  consisting  of  the  Abolition 
Society  there,  which  is  of  long  standing,  extending  back  in  its 
memories  to  the  very  commencement  of  the  agitation  under 
Clarkson  and  Wilberforce.  It  was  a  pleasant  morning,  the 
1st  of  May.  The  wmdows  of  the  parlor  were  opened  to  the 
ground ;  and  the  company  invited  filled  not  only  the  room,  but 
stood  in  a  crowd  on  the  grass  around  the  window.  Among 
the  peaceable  company  present  was  an  admiral  in  the  navy,  a 
fine,  cheerful  old  gentleman,  who  entered  with  hearty  interest 
into  the  scene. 

The  lady  secretary  of  the  society  read  a  neatly-written  ad- 
dress, full  of  kind  feehng  and  Christian  sentiment.  Joseph 
Sturge  made  a  few  sensible  and  practical  remarks  on  the  pres- 
ent aspects  of  the  antislavery  cause  in  the  world,  and  the  most 
practical  mode  of  assisting  it  among  English  Chiistians.  He 
dwelt  particularly  on  the  encouragement  of  free  labor.  The 
Rev.  John  Angell  James  followed  with  some  extremely  kind 
and  interestmg  remarks,  and  Mr.  S.  rephed.  As  we  were  in- 
tending to  return  to  this  city  to  make  a  longer  visit,  we  felt 
that  this  interview  was  but  a  glimpse  of  friends  whom  we 
hoped  to  know  more  perfectly  hereafter. 

A  throng  of  friends  accompanied  us  to  the  depot.     We  had 
the  pleasure  of  the  company  of  Elihu  Burritt,  and  enjoyed  a 
delightful  run  to  London,  where  we  arrived  towards  evening. 
22* 


258     Sunny  memories  of  foreign  lands. 


LETTER    XIII. 

Dear  Sister  :  — 

At  the  station  house  in  London,  we  found  llev.  Messrs. 
Binney  and  Shcnnan  waiting  for  us  with  carriages.  C. 
went  with  Mr.  Sherman,  and  Mr.  S.  and  I  soon  found  our- 
selves in  a  charming  retreat  called  Rose  Cottage,  in  Wal- 
worth, about  which  I  will  tell  you  more  anon.  Mrs.  B. 
received  us  with  every  attention  which  the  most  thoughtful 
hospitality  could  suggest. 

S.  and  W.,  who  had  gone  on  before  us,  and  taken  lodg- 
ings very  near,  were  there  waiting  to  receive  us.  One  of 
the  first  things  S.  said  to  me,  after  we  got  into  our  room, 

was,  "  O,  H ,  we  are  so  glad  you  have  come,  for  we 

are  all  going  to  the  lord  mayor's  dinner  to  night,  and  you  are 
invited." 

"  What ! "  said  I,  "  the  lord  mayor  of  London,  that  I  used 
to  read  about  in  "VYliittington  and  his  Cat  ? "  And  imme- 
diately there  came  to  my  ears  the  sound  of  the  old  cliime, 
which  made  so  powerful  an  impression  on  my  childish  mem- 
ory, wherein  all  the  bells  of  London  were  represented  as 
tolling. 

"  Turn  again,  Whittington, 
Thrice  lord  mayor  of  London." 

It  is  curious  what  an  influence  these  old  rhymes  have  on 
our  associations. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       259 

S.  went  on  to  tell  me  that  the  party  was  the  annual  dinner 
given  to  the  judges  of  England  by  the  lord  mayor,  and  that 
there  we  should  see  the  whole  EngUsh  bar,  and  hosts  of  dis- 
tingues  besides.  So,  though  I  was  tired,  I  hurried  to  dress  in 
all  the  glee  of  meeting  an  adventure,  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  and 
the  rest  of  the  party  were  ready.  Crack  went  the  wliip, 
round  went  the  wheels,  and  away  we  drove. 

We  alighted  at  the  Mansion  House,  and  entered  a  large 
illuminated  hall,  supported  by  pillars.  Chandeliers  were 
glittering,  servants  with  powdered  heads  and  gold  lace  coats 
were  hurrying  to  and  fro  in  every  direction,  receiving  compa- 
ny and  announcing  names.  Do  you  want  to  know  how  an- 
nouncing is  done  ?  Well,  suppose  a  staircase,  a  hall,  and  two 
or  three  corridors,  intervening  between  you  and  the  drawing 
room.  At  all  convenient  distances  on  this  route  are  stationed 
these  grave,  powdered-headed  gentlemen,  with  their  embroi- 
dered coats.  You  walk  up  to  the  first  one,  and  tell  him  confi- 
dentially that  you  are  Miss  Smith.  He  calls  to  the  man  on 
the  first  landing,  "Miss  Smith."  The  man  on  the  landing 
says  to  the  man  in  the  corridor,  "  Miss  Smith."  The  man  in 
the  corridor  shouts  to  the  man  at  the  drawing  room  door, 
"  JVIiss  Smith."  And  thus)  following  the  sound  of  your  name, 
you  hear  it  for  the  last  time  shouted  aloud,  just  before  you 
enter  the  room. 

We  found  a  considerable  throng,  and  I  was  glad  to  accept  a 
seat  which  was  offered  me  in  the  agreeable  vicinity  of  the 
lady  mayoress,  so  that  I  might  see  what  would  be  interesting 
to  me  of  the  ceremonial. 

The  titles  in  law  here,  as  in  every  tiling  else,  are  manifold ; 
and  the  powdered-headed  gentleman  at  the  door  pronounced 
them  with  an  evident  relish,  which  was  joyous  to  hear  —  Mr. 


2G0       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

Attorney,  Mi\  Solicitor,  and  ]Mr.  Sergeant ;  Lord  Chief  Baron, 
Lord  Chief  Justice,  and  Lord  this,  and  Lord  that,  and  Lord 
the  other,  more  tlian  I  could  possibly  remember,  as  in  they 
came  dressed  in  black,  Avitli  smallclothes  and  silk  stockings, 
•with  swords  by  their  sides,  and  little  cocked  hats  under  their 
arms,  bowing  gracefully  before  the  lady  mayoress. 

I  saw  no  big  wigs,  but  some  wore  the  hair  tied  behind  with 
a  small  black  silk  bag  attached  to  it.  Some  of  the  principal 
men  were  dressed  in  black  velvet,  which  became  them  finely. 
Some  had  broad  shirt  frills  of  point  or  Mechlin  lace,  with  wide 
ruHles  of  the  same  round  their  wrists. 

Poor  C,  barbarian  that  he  was,  and  utterly  unaware  of 
the  priceless  gentility  of  the  thing,  said  to  me,  sotto  voce, 
"  How  can  men  wear  such  dirty  stuff  ?  Why  don't  they 
wash  it  ? "  I  expounded  to  him  what  an  ignorant  sinner 
he  was,  and  that  the  dirt  of  ages  was  one  of  the  surest  indi- 
cations of  value.  Wash  point  lace  !  it  would  be  as  bad  as 
cleaning  up  the  antiquary's  study. 

The  ladies  were  in  full  dress,  which  here  in  England  means 
always  a  dress  which  exposes  the  neck  and  shoulders.  This 
requirement  seems  to  be  universal,  since  ladies  of  all  ages 
conform  to  it.  It  may,  perhaps,  account  for  this  custom,  to 
say  that  the  bust  of  an  English  lady  is  seldom  otherwise  than 
line,  and  develops  a  full  outline  at  what  we  should  call  quite 
an  advanced  period  of  life. 

A  very  dignified  gentleman,  dressed  in  black  velvet,  with  a 
fine  head,  made  his  way  through  the  throng,  and  sat  down  by 
me,  introducing  himself  as  Lord  Chief  Baron  Pollock.  He 
told  me  he  had  just  been  reading  the  legal  part  of  the  Key  to 
Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  and  remarked  especially  on  the  opinion 
of  Judge  Pulfin,  in  the  case  of  State  v.  Mann,  as  having  made 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       261 

a  deep  impression  on  his  mind.  Of  the  character  of  the  de- 
cision, considered  as  a  legal  and  Uterary  document,  he  spoke 
in  terms  of  high  admiration ;  said  that  nothing  had  ever  given 
him  so  clear  a  view  of  the  essential  nature  of  slavery.  We 
found  that  this  document  had  produced  the  same  impression 
on  the  minds  of  several  others  present.  ]Mi'.  S.  said  that  one 
or  two  distinguished  legal  gentlemen  mentioned  it  to  him  in 
similar  terms.  The  talent  and  force  displayed  in  it,  as  well 
as  the  high  spirit  and  scorn  of  dissimulation,  appear  to  have 
created  a  strong  interest  in  its  author.  It  always  seemed  to 
me  that  there  was  a  certain  severe  strength  and  grandeur 
about  it  which  approached  to  the  heroic.  One  or  two  said 
that  they  were  glad  such  a  man  had  retired  from  the  practice 
of  such  a  system  of  law. 

But  there  was  scarce  a  moment  for  conversation  amid  the 
whirl  and  eddy  of  so  many  presentations.  Before  the  compa- 
ny had  all  assembled,  the  room  was  a  perfect  jam  of  legal  and 
literary  notabilities.  The  dinner  was  announced  between  nine 
and  ten  o'clock.  We  were  conducted  into  a  splendid  hall, 
where  the  tables  were  laid.  Four  long  tables  were  set  parallel 
with  the  length  of  the  hall,  and  one  on  a  raised  platform  across 
the  upper  end.  In  the  midst  of  this  sat  the  lord  mayor  and 
lady  mayoress,  on  their  right  hand  the  judges,  on  their  left  the 
American  minister,  with  other  distinguished  guests.  I  sat  by 
a  most  agreeable  and  interesting  young  lady,  who  seemed  to 
take  pleasure  in  enlightening  me  on  all  those  matters  about 
which  a  stranger  would  naturally  be  inquisitive. 

Directly  opposite  me  was  ISIx.  Dickens,  whom  I  now  beheld 
for  the  first  time,  and  was  surprised  to  see  looking  so  young. 
Mr.  Justice  Talfourd,  known  as  the  author  of  Ion,  was  also 
there  with  his  lady.     She  had  a  beautiful  antique  cast  of  head. 


262       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

The  lord  mayor  was  siinj)ly  dressed  in  black,  without  any 
other  adornment  than  a  massive  gold  chain. 

I  asked  the  lady  if  he  had  not  robes  of  state.  She  replied, 
yes ;  but  they  were  very  heavy  and  cumbersome,  and  that 
he  never  wore  them  when  he  could,  with  any  propriety,  avoid 
it.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  matter  of  outward  parade  and 
state  is  gradually  losing  its  hold  even  here  in  England.  As 
society  becomes  enlightened,  men  care  less  and  less  for  mere 
shows,  and  are  apt  to  neglect  those  outward  forms  which  have 
neither  beauty  nor  convenience  on  their  side,  such  as  judges' 
wigs  and  lord  mayors'  robes. 

As  a  general  thing  the  company  were  more  plainly  dressed 
than  I  had  expected.  I  am  really  glad  that  there  is  a  move- 
ment being  made  to  carry  the  doctrine  of  plain  dress  into  our 
diplomatic  representation.  Even  older  nations  are  becoming 
tired  of  mere  shows  ;  and,  certainly,  the  representatives  of  a 
republic  ought  not  to  begin  to  put  on  the  finery  which  mon- 
archies are  beginning  to  cast  off. 

The  present  lord  mayor  is  a  member  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons —  a  most  liberal-minded  man  ;  very  simple,  but  pleasing 
in  his  appearance  and  address  ;  one  who  seems  to  think  more 
of  essentials  than  of  show. 

lie  is  a  dissenter,  being  a  member  of  Rev.  Air.  Binney's 
church,  a  man  warmly  interested  in  the  promotion  of  Sabbath 
schools,  and  eveiy  worthy  and  benevolent  object. 

The  ceremonies  of  the  dinner  were  long  and  weary,  and,  I 
thought,  seemed  to  be  more  fully  entered  into  by  a  flourishing 
official,  who  stood  at  the  mayor's  back,  than  by  any  other  per- 
son present. 

The  business  of  toast-drinking  is  reduced  to  the  nicest  sys- 
tem.    A  regular  oflicial,  called  a  toast  master,  stood  behind 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       263 

the  lord  mayor  with  a  paper,  from  which  he  read  the  toasts  in 
their  order.  Every  one,  according  to  his  several  rank,  pre- 
tensions, and  station,  must  be  toasted  in  his  gradation  ;  and 
every  person  toasted  must  have  his  name  announced  by  the 
official,  —  the  larger  dignitaries  being  proposed  alone  in  their 
glory,  while  the  smaller  fry  are  read  out  by  the  dozen,  —  and 
to  each  toast  somebody  must  get  up  and  make  a  speech. 

First,  after  the  usual  loyal  toasts,  the  lord  mayor  proposed 
the  health  of  the  American  minister,  expressing  himself  in 
the  warmest  terms  of  friendship  towards  our  country ;  to  which 
Mr.  IngersoU  responded  very  handsomely.  Among  the  speak- 
ers I  was  particularly  pleased  with  Lord  Chief  Baron  Pollock, 
who,  in  the  absence  of  Lord  Chief  Justice  Campbell,  was 
toasted  as  the  highest  representative  of  the  legal  profession. 
He  spoke  with  great  dignity,  simplicity,  and  courtesy,  taking 
occasion  to  pay  very  flattering  compliments  to  the  American 
legal  profession,  speaking  particularly  of  Judge  Story.  The 
comphment  gave  me  great  pleasure,  because  it  seemed  a  just 
and  noble-minded  appreciation,  and  not  a  mere  civil  fiction. 
We  are  always  better  pleased  with  appreciation  than  flattery, 
though  perhaps  he  strained  a  point  when  he  said,  "  Our  breth- 
ren on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  with  whom  we  are  now 
exchanging  legal  authorities,  I  fear  largely  surpass  us  iu  the 
production  of  philosophic  and  comprehensive  forms." 

Speaking  of  the  two  countries  he  said,  "  God  forbid  that, 
with  a  common  language,  with  common  laws  which  we  are 
materially  improving  for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  with  one 
common  Hterature,  with  one  common  rehgion,  and  above  all 
with  one  common  love  of  hberty,  God  forbid  that  any  feeluig 
should  arise  between  the  two  countries  but  the  desire  to  carry 
througli  the  world  these  advantages." 


204       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

Mr.  Justice  Talfourd  proposed  the  literature  of  our  two 
countries,  under  tlie  head  of  "  Anglo-Saxon  Literature."  He 
made  allusion  to  the  author  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  and  Mr. 
Dickens,  speaking  of  both  as  having  employed  fiction  as  a 
means  of  awakening  the  attention  of  the  respective  countries 
to  the  condition  of  the  oppressed  and  suffering  classes.  Mr. 
Tahburd  appears  to  be  in  the  prime  of  life,  of  a  robust  and 
somewhat  florid  habit.  He  is  universally  beloved  for  his  no- 
bleness of  soul  and  generous  interest  in  all  that  tends  to  pro- 
mote the  welfare  of  humanity,  no  less  than  for  liis  classical 
and  scholarly  attainments. 

Mr.  Dickens  replied  to  this  toast  in  a  graceful  and  playful 
strain.  In  the  former  part  of  the  evening,  in  reply  to  a  toast 
on  the  chancery  dejiartment,  Vice-Chancellor  Wood,  who 
spoke  in  the  absence  of  the  lord  chancellor,  made  a  sort  of 
defence  of  the  Court  of  Chancery,  not  distinctly  alluding  to 
Bleak  House,  but  evidently  not  without  reference  to  it.  The 
amount  of  what  he  said  was,  that  the  court  had  received  a 
great  many  more  hard  opinions  than  it  merited ;  that  they  had 
been  parsimoniously  obliged  to  perform  a  great  amount  of  busi- 
ness by  a  very  inadequate  number  of  judges ;  but  that  more  re- 
cently the  number  of  judges  had  been  increased  to  seven,  and 
there  was  reason  to  hope  that  all  business  brought  before  it 
would  now  be  performed  without  unnecessary  delay. 

In  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Dickens's  speech  he  alluded  play- 
fully to  this  item  of  intelligence ;  said  he  was  exceedingly 
happy  to  hear  it,  as  he  trusted  now  that  a  suit,  in  which  he 
was  greatly  interested,  would  speedily  come  to  an  end.  I 
heard  a  little  by  conversation  between  INIr.  Dickens  and  a 
gentleman  of  the  bar,  who  sat  opposite  me,  in  which  the  latter 
seemed  to  be  reiterating  the  same  assertions,  and  I  understood 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       265 

him  to  say,  that  a  case  not  extraordinarily  complicated  might 
be  got  through  Avith  in  three  months.  Mr.  Dickens  said  he 
was  very  happy  to  hear  it ;  but  I  fancied  there  was  a  little 
shade  of  incredulity  in  his  manner;  however,  the  incident 
showed  one  thmg,  that  is,  that  the  chancery  were  not  insen- 
sible to  the  representations  of  Dickens ;  but  the  whole  tone 
of  the  thing  was  quite  good-natured  and  agreeable.  In  this 
respect,  I  must  say  I  think  the  English  are  quite  remarkable. 
Every  thing  here  meets  the  very  freest  handling  ;  nothing  is 
too  sacred  to  be  publicly  shown  up  ;  but  those  who  are  ex- 
hibited appear  to  have  too  much  good  sense  to  recognize  the 
force  of  the  picture  by  getting  angry.  Mr.  Dickens  has  gone 
on  unmercifully  exposing  all  sorts  of  weak  places  in  the  Eng- 
Hsh  fabric,  public  and  private,  yet  nobody  cries  out  upon  him 
as  the  slanderer  of  his  country.  He  serves  up  Lord  Dedlocks 
to  his  heart's  content,  yet  none  of  the  nobility  make  wry  faces 
about  it ;  nobody  is  in  a  hurry  to  proclaim  that  he  has  recog- 
nized the  picture,  by  getting  into  a  passion  at  it.  The  con- 
trast between  the  people  of  England  and  America,  in  this 
respect,  is  rather  unfavorable  to  us,  because  they  are  by  pro- 
fession conservative,  and  we  by  profession  radical. 

For  us  to  be  annoyed  when  any  of  our  institutions  are 
commented  upon,  is  in  the  highest  degree  absurd ;  it  would 
do  well  enough  for  Naples,  but  it  does  not  do  for  America. 

There  were  some  curious  old  customs  observed  at  this  din- 
ner which  interested  me  as  peculiar.  About  the  middle  of  the 
feast,  the  official  who  performed  all  the  announcing  made  the 
declaration  that  the  lord  mayor  and  lady  mayoress  would  pledge 
the  guests  in  a  loving  cup.  They  then  rose,  and  the  official 
presented  them  with  a  massive  gold  cup,  full  of  wine,  in  which 
they  pledged  the  guests.  It  then  passed  down  the  table,  and 
VOL.  L  23 


2CG       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

the  guests  rose,  two  and  two,  each  tasting  and  presenting  to 
the  other.  My  fair  informant  told  me  that  this  was  a  custom 
which  liad  come  down  from  the  most  ancient  time. 

The  banquet  was  enhvened  at  intervals  by  songs  from  pro- 
fessional singers,  hired  for  the  occasion.  After  the  banquet 
was  over,  massive  gold  basins,  filled  with  rose  water,  slid  along 
down  the  table,  into  which  the  guests  dipped  their  napkins  — 
an  improvement,  I  suppose,  on  the  doctrine  of  finger  glasses, 
or  perliaps  the  primeval  form  of  the  custom. 

We  rose  from  table  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  —  that 
is,  we  ladies  —  and  went  into  the  drawing  room,  where  I  was 
presented  to  Mrs.  Dickens  and  several  other  ladies.  Mrs. 
Dickens  is  a  good  specimen  of  a  truly  English  woman ;  tall, 
large,  and  well  developed,  with  fine,  healthy  color,  and  an  air 
of  frankness,  cheerfulness,  and  reliability.  A  friend  whispered 
to  me  that  she  was  as  observing,  and  fond  of  humor,  as  her 
husband. 

After  a  while  the  gentlemen  came  back  to  the  drawing  room, 
and  I  had  a  few  moments  of  very  pleasant,  friendly  conver- 
sation with  Mr.  Dickens.  They  are  both  people  that  one  could 
not  know  a  little  of  without  desiring  to  know  more. 

I  had  some  conversation  with  the  lady  mayoress.  She  said 
she  had  been  invited  to  meet  me  at  Stafford  House  on  Satur- 
day, but  should  be  unable  to  attend,  as  she  had  called  a  meet- 
ing on  the  same  day  of  the  city  ladies,  for  considering  the 
condition  of  milhners  and  dressmakers,  and  to  form  a  society 
for  their  relief  to  act  in  conjunction  with  that  of  the  west  end. 

After  a  little  we  began  to  talk  of  separating  ;  the  lord 
mayor  to  take  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  the 
rest  of  the  party  to  any  other  engagement  that  might  be  upon 
their  list. 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  267 

"  Come,  let  us  go  to  the  House  of  Commons,"  said  one  of 
my  friends,  "  and  make  a  niglit  of  it."  "  With  all  my  heart,'* 
replied  I,  "  if  I  only  had  another  body  to  go  into  to-morrow." 

AVliat  a  convenience  in  sight-seeing  it  would  be  if  one  could 
have  a  relay  of  bodies,  as  of  clothes,  and  go  from  one  into  the 
other.  But  we,  not  used  to  the  London  style  of  turning  night 
into  day,  are  full  weary  already  ;  so,  good  night. 


2G8       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 


LETTER   XIV. 

Hose  Cottaok,  Walworth,  Loxdox,  May  2. 

My  Dear:  — 

This  morning  Mrs.  Follen  called,  and  we  had  quite  a  long 
chat  together.  We  are  separated  by  the  whole  city.  She 
lives  at  W^est  End,  while  I  am  down  here  in  Walworth,  which 
is  one  of  the  postscripts  of  London ;  for  London  has  as  many 
postscripts  as  a  lady's  letter  —  little  suburban  villages  Avhicli 
have  been  overtaken  by  the  growth  of  tlie  city,  and  em- 
braced in  its  arms.  I  like  them  a  great  deal  better  than 
the  city,  for  my  part. 

Here  now,  for  instance,  at  Walworth,  I  can  look  out  at  a 
window  and  see  a  nice  green  meadow  with  sheep  and  lambs 
feeding  in  it,  which  is  some  relief  in  this  smutty  old  place. 
London  is  as  smutty  as  Pittsburg  or  Wheeling.  It  takes  a 
good  hour's  steady  riding  to  get  from  here  to  West  End ; 
so  that  my  American  friends,  of  the  newspapers,  who  are 
afraid  I  shall  be  corrupted  by  aristocratic  associations,  will 
see  that  I  am  at  safe  distance. 

This  evening  we  are  appointed  to  dine  with  the  Earl  of 
Carlisle.  There  is  to  be  no  company  but  his  own  family 
circle,  for  he,  with  great  consideration,  said  in  his  note  that 
he  thought  a  little  quiet  would  be  the  best  thing  he  could 
offer.  Lord  Carlisle  is  a  great  friend  to  America ;  and  so  is 
his  sister,  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland.  He  is  tlic  only  Eng- 
lish traveller  wlio  ever  wrote  notes  on  our  country  in  a  real 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       269 

spirit  of  aj^preciation.  While  the  Halls,  and  Trollopes,  and 
all  the  rest  could  see  nothing  but  our  breaking  ego-s  on  the 
wrong  end,  or  such  matters,  he  discerned  and  interpreted 
those  points  wherein  lies  the  real  strength  of  our  growing 
country.  His  notes  on  America  were  not  very  extended, 
being  only  sketches  delivered  as  a  lyceum  lecture  some  years 
after  his  return.  It  was  the  spirit  and  quality,  rather  than 
quantity,  of  the  thing  that  was  noticeable. 

I  observe  that  American  newspapers  are  sneering  about  his 
preface  to  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin ;  but  they  ought  at  least  to  re- 
member that  his  sentiments  with  regard  to  slavery  are  no  sud- 
den freak.  In  the  first  place,  he  comes  of  a  family  that  has 
always  been  on  the  side  of  liberal  and  progressive  principles. 
He  himself  has  been  a  leader  of  reforms  on  the  popular  side. 
It  was  a  temporary  defeat,  when  run  as  an  anti-corn-law 
candidate,  which  gave  him  leisure  to  travel  in  America.  Af- 
terwards he  had  the  satisfaction  to  be  triumphantly  returned 
for  that  district,  and  to  see  the  measure  he  had  advocated  fully 
successful. 

While  Lord  Carlisle  was  in  America  he  never  dis"-uised 
those  antislavery  sentiments  which  formed  a  part  of  his  polit- 
ical and  religious  creed  as  an  Englishman,  and  as  the  heir  of 
a  house  always  true  to  progress.  Many  cultivated  English  peo- 
ple have  shrunk  from  acknowledging  abolitionists  in  Boston, 
where  the  ostracism  of  fashion  and  wealth  has  been  enforced 
against  them.  Lord  Carlisle,  though  moving  in  the  hio-hest 
circle,  honestly  and  openly  expressed  his  respect  for  them  on  all 
occasions.  He  attended  the  Boston  antislavery  fair,  which  at 
that  time  was  quite  a  decided  step.  Nor  did  he  even  in  any 
part  of  our  country  disguise  his  convictions.  There  is,  there- 
fore, propriety  and  consistency  in  the  course  he  has  taken  non". 
23* 


270  SUNNY    MKMOUIllS    Or    rOllKK.N     l.ANDS. 

It  would  seem  ihiit  ;i  warm  interest  in  questions  of  a  pub- 
lic nature  has  always  distinguished  the  ladies  of  this  family. 
The  Duchess  of  Sutherland's  mother  is  daughter  of  the  cel- 
ebrated Duchess  of  Devonshire,  who,  in  her  day,  employed 
on  the  liberal  side  in  politics  all  the  powder  of  genius,  wit, 
beauty,  and  rank.  It  was  to  the  electioneering  talents  of  her- 
self and  her  sister,  the  Lady  Duncamion,  that  Fox,  at  one 
crisis,  owed  his  election.  We  Americans  should  remember 
that  it  was  this  party  who  advocated  our  cause  during  our 
revolutionary  struggle.  Fox  and  his  associates  pleaded  for  us 
Avith  much  the  same  arguments,  and  with  the  same  earnest- 
ness and  warmth,  that  American  abolitionists  now  plead  for 
the  slaves.  They  stood  against  all  the  power  of  the  king  and 
cabinet,  as  the  abolitionists  in  America  in  1850  stood  against 
president  and  cabinet. 

The  Duchess  of  Devonshire  w\as  a  woman  of  real  noble 
impulses  and  generous  emotions,  and  had  a  true  sympathy;  for 
what  is  free  and  heroic.  Coleridge  has  some  fine  lines  ad- 
dressed to  her,  —  called  forth  by  a  sonnet  which  she  com- 
posed, while  in  Switzerland,  on  William  Tell's  Chapel, — - 
■which  begin, — 

*'  0  lady,  nursed  in  pomp  and  pleasure, 
Where  learn'dst  thou  that  heroic  measure  ?  " 

The  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  in  our  times,  has  been  knowi' 
to  be  no  less  Avarmly  interested  on  the  liberal  side.  So  great 
was  her  influence  held  to  be,  that  upon  a  certain  occasion 
■when  a  tory  cabinet  was  to  be  formed,  a  distinguished  minis- 
ter is  reported  to  have  said  to  the  queen  that  he  could  not 
hope  to  succeed  in  his  administration  wliile  such  a  decided 
influence  as  that  of  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland  stood  at  the 


SUNNY   ME3I0RIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS.  271 

head  of  her  majesty's  household.  The  queen's  spirited  refusal 
to  surrender  her  favorite  attendant  attracted,  at  the  time, 
universal  admiration. 

Like  her  brother  Lord  Carlisle,  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland 
has  always  professed  those  sentiments  with  regard  to  slavery 
which  are  the  glory  of  the  English  nation,  and  which  are  held 
W'ith  more  particular  zeal  by  those  families  who  are  favorable 
to  the  progress  of  liberal  ideas.     • 

At  about  seven  o'clock  we  .took  our  carriage  to  go  to  the  Earl 
of  Carhsle's,  the  dinner  hour  being  here  somewhere  between 
eight  and  nine.  As  we  rode  on  through  the  usual  steady 
di'izzhng  rain,  from  street  to  street  and  square  to  square^ 
crossing  Waterloo  Bridge,  w4th  its  avenue  of  lamps  faintly 
visible  in  the  seethy  mist,  plunging  through  the  heart  of  the 
city,  we  began  to  realize  something  of  the  immense  extent  of 
London. 

Altogether  the  most  striking  objects  that  you  pass,  as  you 
ride  in  the  evening  thus,  are  the  gin  shoj)s,  flaming  and  flaring 
from  the  most  conspicuous  positions,  with  plate-glass  windows 
and  dazzling  lights,  thronged  with  men,  and  women,  and  chil- 
dren, drinking  destruction.  Mothers  go  there  with  babies  in 
their  arms,  and  take  what  turns  the  mother's  milk  to  poison. 
Husbands  go  there,  and  spend  the  money  that  their  children 
want  for  bread,  and  multitudes  of  boys  and  girls  of  the  age  of 
my  own.  Li  Paris  and  other  European  cities,  at  least  the  great 
fisher  of  souls  baits  with  something  attractive,  but  in  these 
gin  shops  men  bite  at  the  bare,  barbed  hook.  There  are  no 
garlands,  no  dancing,  no  music,  no  theatricals,  no  pretence  of 
social  exhilaration,  nothing  but  hogsheads  of  spirits,  and  peo- 
ple going  in  to  drink.  The  number  of  them  that  I  passed 
seemed  to  me  absolutely  appalling. 


I 

272       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

After  long  driving  we  found  ourselves  coming  into  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  West  End,  and  began  to  feel  an  indelinite  sense 
that  we  were  approaching  somctliing  very  grand,  thougli  I 
cannot  say  that  we  saw  much  but  lieavy,  smoky-walled  build- 
ings, washed  by  the  rain.  At  length  we  stopped  in  Grosvenor 
Place,  and  alighted. 

We  were  shown  into  an  anteroom  adjoining  the  entrance 
hall,  and  from  that  into  an  adjacent  apartment,  where  we  met 
Lord  Carlisle.  The  room  had  a  pleasant,  social  air,  warmed 
and  enlivened  by  the  blaze  of  a  coal  fire  and  wax  candles. 

We  had  never,  any  of  us,  met  Lord  Carlisle  before ;  but 
the  considerateness  and  cordiality  of  our  reception  obviated 
whatever  embarrassment  there  might  have  been  in  this  cir- 
cumstance. In  a  few  moments  after  we  were  all  seated  the 
servant  announced  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  and  Lord  Car- 
lisle presented  me.  She  is  tall  and  stately,  with  a  decided 
fulness  of  outline,  and  a  most  noble  bearing.  Her  fair  com- 
plexion, blond  hair,  and  full  lips  speak  of  Saxon  blood.  In 
her  early  youth  she  might  have  been  a  Rowena.  I  thought 
of  the  lines  of  Wordsworth :  — 

"A  perfect  woman,  nobly  planned, 
To  ■warn,  to  comfort,  to  command." 

Her  manners  have  a  peculiar  warmth  and  cordiality.  One 
sees  peojile  now  and  then  who  seem  to  radiate  kindness  and 
vitality,  and  to  have  a  fiiculty  of  inspiring  perfect  conlidence 
in  a  moment.  There  are  no  airs  of  grandeur,  no  patroniz- 
ing ways  ;  but  a  genuine  sincerity  and  kindliness  that  seem 
to  come  from  a  deep  fountain  within. 

The  engraving  by  AVinterhalter,  which  has  been  somewhat 
familinr  in  America,  is  as  just  a  representation  of  her  air  and 
bearinix  a.^  cduM  be  trlven. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       273 

After  this  we  were  presented  to  the  various  members  of  the 
Howard  family,  which  is  a  very  numerous  one.  Among  them 
were  Lady  Dover,  Lady  Lascelles,  and  Lady  Labouchere,  sis- 
ters of  the  duchess.  The  Earl  of  Burlington,  who  is  the  heir 
of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  w^as  also  present.  The  Duke  of 
Devonshire  is  the  uncle  of  Lord  Carlisle. 

The  only  person  present  not  of  the  family  connection  was 
my  quondam  correspondent  in  America,  Arthur  Helps.  Some- 
how or  other  I  had  formed  the  impression  from  his  writings 
that  he  was  a  venerable  sage  of  very  advanced  years,  who 
contemplated  hfe  as  an  aged  hermit,  from  the  door  of  his  cell. 
Conceive  my  surprise  to  find  a  genial  young  gentleman  of 
about  twenty-five,  who  looked  as  if  he  might  enjoy  a  joke  as 
well  as  another  man. 

At  dinner  I  found  myself  between  him  and  Lord  Carlisle, 
and  perceiving,  perhaps,  that  the  nature  of  my  reflections  was 
of  rather  an  amusing  order,  he  asked  me  confidentially  if  I 
did  not  hke  fun,  to  which  I  assented  with  fervor.  I  like  that 
little  homely  word  fan,  though  I  understand  the  dictionary 
says  what  it  represents  is  vulgar ;  but  I  think  it  has  a  good, 
hearty,  Saxon  sound,  and  I  like  Saxon  better  than  Latin  or 
French  either. 

When  the  servant  offered  me  wine  Lord  Carlisle  asked  me 
if  our  party  were  all  teetotallers,  and  I  said  yes;  that  in 
America  all  clergymen  were  teetotallers,  of  course. 

After  the  ladies  left  the  table  the  conversation  turned  on  the 
Maine  laAV,  which  seems  to  be  considered  over  here  as  a  phe- 
nomenon in  legislation,  and  many  of  the  gentlemen  present 
inquired  about  it  with  great  curiosity. 

When  we  went  into  the  drawing  room  I  was  presented  to 
the  venerable  Countess  of  CarUsle,  the  earl's  mother ;  a  lady 


27i  SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

universally  beloved  and  revered,  not  less  for  superior  traits  of 
mind  tlian  i'or  great  loveliness  and  benevolence  of  character. 
She  received  us  with  the  utmost  kindness  ;  kindness  evidently 
genuine  and  real. 

The  walls  of  the  drawing  room  were  beautifully  adorned 
with  works  of  art  by  the  best  masters.  There  w\^s  a  Rem- 
brandt hanging  over  the  fireplace,  wliich  showed  finely  by  the 
evening  light.  It  was  simply  the  portrait  of  a  man  with  a 
broad,  Flemish  hat.  There  were  one  or  two  pictures,  also,  by 
Cuyp.  I  should  think  he  must  have  studied  in  America,  so 
perfectly  does  he  represent  the  golden,  hazy  atmosphere  of  our 
Indian  summer. 

One  of  the  ladies  showed  me  a  snuifbox  on  which  was  a 
picture  of  Lady  Carlisle's  mother,  the  celebrated  Duchess  of 
Devonshire,  taken  when  she  was  quite  a  httle  girl ;  a  round, 
liappy  face,  showing  great  vivacity  and  genius.  On  another 
box  was  an  exquisitely  beautiful  miniature  of  a  relative  of  the 
family. 

After  the  gentlemen  rejoined  us  came  in  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Argyle,  and  Lord  and  Lady  Blantyre.  These 
ladies  are  the  daughters  of  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland.  The 
Duchess  of  Argyle  is  of  a  slight  and  fauy-like  figure,  with 
flaxen  hair  and  blue  eyes,  answering  well  enough  to  the 
description  of  Annot  Lyle,  in  the  Legend  of  Montrose.  Lady 
r>lantyre  was  somewhat  taller,  of  fuller  figure,  with  very  bril- 
liant bloom.  Lord  Blantyre  is  of  the  Stuart  blood,  a  tall  and 
slender  young  man,  with  very  graceful  manners. 

As  to  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  we  found  that  the  picture  drawn 
of  him  l)y  his  countrymen  in  Scotland  was  every  way  correct. 
Tiiough  slight  of  figure,  with  fair  complexion  and  blue  eyes, 
his  whole  appearance  is  indicative  of  energy  and  vivacity. 


SU2s"NY   ME3I0RIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  275 

His  talents  and  efficiency  have  made  liim  a  member  of  the 
British  cabinet  at  a  much  earlier  age  than  is  usual ;  and  he 
has  distinguished  himself  not  only  in  political  life,  but  as  a 
writer,  having  given  to  the  world  a  work  on  Presbyterianism, 
embracing  an  analysis  of  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  Scotland 
since  the  reformation,  which  is  spoken  of  as  written  with  great 
ability,  in  a  most  candid  and  Hberal  spirit. 

The  company  soon  formed  themselves  into  little  groups  in 
different  parts  of  the  room.  The  Duchess  of  Sutherland, 
Lord  Carlisle,  and  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Argyle  formed 
a  circle,  and  turned  the  conversation  upon  American  topics. 
The  Duke  of  Argyle  made  many  inquiries  about  our  distin- 
guished men ;  particularly  of  Emerson,  Longfellow,  and  Haw- 
thorne ;  also  of  Prescott,  who  appears  to  be  a  general  favorite 
here.  I  felt  at  the  moment  that  we  never  value  our  Hterary 
men  so  much  as  when  placed  in  a  circle  of  intelligent  foreign- 
ers ;  it  is  particularly  so  with  Americans,  because  we  have 
nothing  but  our  men  and  women  to  glory  in  —  no  court,  no 
nobles,  no  castles,  no  cathedrals  ;  except  we  produce  distin- 
guished specimens  of  humanity,  we  are  nothing. 

The  quietness  of  this  evening  circle,  the  charm  of  its 
kind  hospitality,  the  evident  air  of  sincerity  and  good  will 
which  pervaded  every  thing,  made  the  evening  pass  most  de- 
lightfully to  me.  I  had  never  felt  myself  more  at  home  even 
among  the  Quakers.  Such  a  visit  is  a  true  rest  and  refresh- 
ment, a  thousand  times  better  than  the  most  brilliant  and  glit- 
tering entertainment. 

At  eleven  o'clock,  however,  the  carriage  called,  for  our 
evening  was  drawing  to  its  close  ;  that  of  our  friends,  I  sup- 
pose, was  but  just  commencing,  as  London's  liveliest  hours 
are  by  gaslight,  but  we  cannot  learn  the  art  of  turning  night 
into  day. 


27G  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 


LETTER    XV. 

May  4. 

My  dear  S.  :  — 

This  morning  I  felt  too  tired  to  go  out  any  where ;  but  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Binney  persuaded  me  to  go  just  a  little  while  in 
to  the  meeting  of  the  Bible  Society,  for  you  must  know  that 
this  is  anniversary  week,  and  so,  besides  the  usual  rush,  and 
roar,  and  whirl  of  London,  there  is  the  confluence  of  all  the 
religious  forces  in  Exeter  Hall.  I  told  Mrs.  B.  that  I  was 
worn  out,  and  did  not  think  I  could  sit  through  a  single 
speech  ;  but  she  tempted  me  by  a  promise  that  I  should 
withdraw  at  any  moment.  "We  had  a  nice  little  snug  gallery 
near  one  of  the  doors,  where  I  could  see  all  over  the  house, 
and  make  a  quick  retreat  in  case  of  need. 

In  one  point  English  ladies  certainly  do  carry  practical  in- 
dustry farther  than  I  ever  saw  it  in  America.  Every  body 
knows  that  an  anniversary  meeting  is  something  of  a  siege, 
and  I  observed  many  good  ladies  below  had  made  regular 
provision  therefor,  by  bringing  knitting  work,  sewing,  crochet, 
or  embroidery.  I  thought  it  was  an  improvement,  and  mean 
to  recommend  it  Avhen  I  get  home.  I  am  sure  many  of  our 
Marthas  in  America  will  be  very  grateful  for  the  custom. 

The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  in  the  chair,  and  I  saw  him 
now  for  the  first  time.  He  is  quite  a  tall  man,  of  slender 
figure,  with  a  long  and  narrow  face,  dark  hazel  eyes,  and 
very   thick,  auburn    hair.      His    bearing   was    dignified  and 


/ 

SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       277 

appropriate  to  his  position.  People  here  are  somewhat 
amused  by  the  vivacity  with  which  American  papers  are 
exhorting  Lord  Shaftesbury  to  look  into  the  factory  sys- 
tem, and  to  explore  the  collieries,  and  in  general  to  take 
care  of  the  sujffering  lower  classes,  as  if  he  had  been  doing 
any  thing  else  for  these  twenty  years  past.  To  people  who 
know  how  he  has  worked  against  wind  and  tide,  in  the  face  of 
opposition  and  obloquy,  and  how  all  the  dreadful  statistics  that 
they  quote  against  him  were  brought  out  expressly  by  inqui- 
ries set  on  foot  and  prosecuted  by  him,  and  how  these  same 
statistics  have  been  by  him  reiterated  in  the  ears  of  successive 
houses  of  Parhament  till  all  these  abuses  have  been  reformed, 
as  far  as  the  most  stringent  and  minute  legislation  can  reform 
them,  —  it  is  quite  amusing  to  hear  him  exhorted  to  con- 
sider the  situation  of  the  working  classes.  One  reason  for 
this,  perhaps,  is  that  provoking  facility  in  changing  names 
which  is  mcident  to  the  English  peerage.  During  the  time  that 
most  of  the  researches  and  speeches  on  the  factory  system  and 
collieries  were  made,  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  with  the  title  of  Lord  Ashley,  and  it  was  not  till 
the  death  of  his  father  that  he  entered  the  House  of  Peers  as 
Lord  Shaftesbury.  The  contrast  which  a  very  staid  religious 
paper  in  America  has  drawn  between  Lord  Ashley  and  Lord 
Shaftesbury  does  not  strike  people  over  here  as  remarkably 
apposite. 

In  the  course  of  the  speeches  on  this  occasion,  frequent  and 
feeling  allusions  were  made  to  the  condition  of  three  millions 
of  people  in  America  who  are  prevented  by  legislative 
enactments  from  reading  for  themselves  the  word  of  life. 
I  know  it  is  not  pleasant  to  our  ministers  upon  the  stage  to 
hear   such    things  ;   but   is   the   whole   moral   sense   of   the 

VOL.     I.  24: 


278  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

^vorld  to  hush  its  voice,  the  whole  missionary  spirit  of  Cliris- 
tianity  to  be  restrained,  because  it  is  disagreeable  for  us  to  be 
reminded  of  our  national  sins  ?  At  least,  let  the  moral  at- 
mosphere of  the  -world  be  kept  pure,  though  it  should  be  too 
stimulatinjr  for  our  diseased  lungs.  If  oral  instruction  will  do 
for  three  million  slaves  in  America,  it  will  do  equally  well  in 
Austria,  Italy,  and  Spain,  and  the  powers  that  be,  there,  are 
just  of  the  opinion  that  they  are  in  America  —  tliat  it  is  danger- 
ous to  have  the  people  read  the  Bible  for  themselves.  Thoughts 
of  this  kind  were  very  ably  set  forth  in  some  of  the  speeches. 
On  the  stage  I  noticed  Kev.  Samuel  R.  Ward,  from  Toronto 
in  Canada,  a  full  blooded  African  of  fine  personal  presence. 
He  was  received  and  treated  with  much  cordiality  by  the 
ministerial  brethren  who  surrounded  him.  I  was  sorry  that  I 
could  not  stay  through  the  speeches,  for  they  were  quite  inter- 
esting. C.  thought  they  were  the  best  he  ever  heard  at  an 
anniversary.  I  was  obliged  to  leave  after  a  little.  Mr.  Sher- 
man very  kindly  came  for  us  in  his  carriage,  and  took  us  a 
little  ride  into  the  country. 

Mrs.  B.  says  that  to-morrow  morning  we  shall  go  out  to  see 
the  Dulwich  Gallery,  a  fine  collection  of  paintings  by  the  old 
masters.  Now,  I  confess  unto  you  that  I  have  great  suspi- 
cions of  these  old  masters.  Why,  I  wish  to  know,  should  none 
but  old  masters  be  thought  any  thing  of?  Is  not  nature  ever 
springing,  ever  new  ?  Is  it  not  fair  to  conclude  that  all  the 
mechanical  assistants  of  painting  are  improved  with  the  ad- 
vance of  society,  as  much  as  of  all  arts  ?  May  not  the  magical 
tints,  which  are  said  to  be  a  secret  with  the  old  masters,  be  the 
effect  of  time  in  part  ?  or  may  not  modern  artists  have  their 
secrets,  as  well,  for  future  ages  to  study  and  admire  ?  Then, 
besides,  how  are  we  to  know  that  our  admiration  of  old  mas- 


SUNNY  MEMOKIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       279 

ters  is  genuine,  since  we  can  bring  our  taste  to  any  thing,  if  we 
only  know  we  must,  and  try  long  enough  ?  People  never 
like  olives  the  first  time  they  eat  them.  In  fact,  I  must  con- 
fess, I  have  some  partialities  towards  young  masters,  and  a 
sort  of  suspicion  that  we  are  passing  over  better  paintings  at 
our  side,  to  get  at  those  which,  thoiigh  the  best  of  their  day, 
are  not  so  good  as  the  best  of  ours.  I  certainly  do  not  wor- 
ship the  old  English  poets.  "With  the  exception  of  IMilton  and 
Shakspeare,  there  is  more  poetry  in  the  works  of  the  writers 
of  the  last  fifty  years  than  in  all  the  rest  together.  Well, 
these  are  my  surmises  for  the  present ;  but  one  thing  I  am 
determined  —  as  my  admiration  is  nothing  to  any  body  but 
myself,  I  will  keep  some  likes  and  dislikes  of  my  own,  and 
will  not  get  up  any  raptures  that  do  not  arise  of  themselves. 
I  am  entirely  willing  to  be  conquered  by  any  picture  that 
has  the  power.     I  will  be  a  non-resistant,  but  that  is  all. 

May  5.  Well,  we  saw  the  Dulwich  Gallery ;  five  rooms 
filled  with  old  masters,  Murillos,  Claudes,  Rubens,  Salvator 
Rosas,  Titians,  Cuyps,  Vandykes,  and  all  the  rest  of  them ; 
probably  not  the  best  specimens  of  any  one  of  them,  but 
good  enough  to  begin  with.  C.  and  I  took  different  courses. 
I  said  to  him,  "Now  choose  nine  pictures  simply  by  your  eye, 
and  see  how  far  its  untaught  guidance  will  bring  you  within 
the  canons  of  criticism."  When  he  had  gone  through  all  the 
rooms  and  marked  his  pictures,  we  found  he  had  selected  two 
by  Rubens,  two  by  Vandyke,  one  by  Salvator  Rosa,  three  by 
Murillo,  and  one  by  Titian.  Pretty  successful  that,  was  it 
not,  for  a  first  essay  ?  We  then  took  the  catalogue,  and  select- 
ed all  the  pictures  of  each  artist  one  after  another,  in  order  to 
get  an  idea  of  the  style  of  each.  I  had  a  great  curiosity  to  see 
Claude  Lorraine's,  remembering  the  poetical  things  that  had 


280       SUNNY  MKMORIKS  OF  F0KI:K;N  LANDS. 

been  said  and  sung  of  liliii.  1  ihou^lit  1  would  see  if  I  could 
distinguish  them  hy  my  eye  "without  looking  at  the  catalogue. 
I  found  I  could  do  so.  I  knew  them  by  a  certain  misty  qual- 
ity in  the  atraosj)ht're.  I  was  disappointed  in  them,  very 
much.  Certainly,  tlicy  were  good  paintings ;  I  had  nothing 
to  object  to  them,  but  I  profanely  thought  I  had  seen  pictures 
by  modern  landscape  painters  as  far  excelling  them  as  a  l)ril- 
liant  morning  excels  a  cool,  gray  day.  Very  likely  the  fault 
was  all  in  me,  but  I  could  not  help  it ;  so  I  tried  the  Murillos. 
There  was  a  Virgin  and  Child,  with  clouds  around  them.  The 
virgin  was  a  very  pretty  girl,  such  as  you  may  see  by  the 
dozen  in  any  boarding  school,  and  the  child  was  a  pretty  child. 
Call  it  the  young  motlier  and  son,  and  it  is  a  very  pretty  pic- 
ture ;  but  call  it  Mary  and  the  infant  Jesus,  and  it  is  an  utter 
failure.  Not  such  was  the  Jewish  princess,  the  inspired  poet- 
ess and  priestess,  the  chosen  of  God  among  all  women. 

It  seems  to  me  that  painting  is  poetry  expressing  itself  by 
lines  and  colors  instead  of  words ;  therefore  there  are  two 
things  to  be  considered  in  every  picture  :  first,  the  quality  of 
the  idea  expressed,  and  second,  the  quality  of  the  language 
in  which  it  is  exjiressed.  Now,  with  regard  to  the  lirst, 
I  hold  that  every  person  of  cultivated  taste  is  as  good  a 
judge  of  painting  as  of  poetry.  The  second,  which  relates 
to  the  mode  of  expressing  the  conception,  including  drawing 
and  coloring,  with  all  their  secrets,  requires  more  study,  and 
here  our  untaught  perceptions  must  sometimes  yield  to  the 
judgment  of  artists.  My  first  question,  then,  when  I  look  at 
the  work  of  an  artist,  is,  What  sort  of  a  mind  has  this  man  ? 
What  has  he  to  say  ?  And  then  I  consider,  How  does  he 
say  it? 

Now,  with  regard  to  Murillo,  it  appeared  to  me  that  he  was 


SUNNY    MEMORIKS    OF    FOIIEIGN    LANDS.  281 

a  man  of  rather  a  mediocre  mind,  with  nothing  very  high  or 
deep  to  say,  but  that  he  was  gifted  with  an  exquisite  facuky 
of  expressing  what  he  did  say ;  and  his  paintings  seem  to  me 
to  bear  an  analogy  to  Pope's  i^oetry,  wherein  the  power  of 
expression  is  wrought  to  the  highest  point,  but  without  fresh- 
ness or  ideahty  in  the  conception.  As  Pope  could  reproduce 
in  most  exquisite  wording  the  fervent  ideas  of  Eloisa,  without 
the  j)ower  to  originate  such,  so  Murillo  reproduced  the  cur- 
rent and  floating  religious  ideas  of  his  times,  with  most  ex- 
quisite perfection  of  art  and  color,  but  without  ideality  or 
vitality.  The  pictures  of  his  which  please  me  most  are  his 
beggar  boys  and  flower  girls,  where  he  abandons  the  region 
of  ideality,  and  simply  reproduces  nature.  His  art  and  color- 
ing give  an  exquisite  grace  to  such  sketches. 

As  to  Vandyke,  though  evidently  a  fine  painter,  he  is  one 
whose  mind  does  not  move  me.  He  adds  nothing  to  my  stock 
of  thoughts  —  awakens  no  emotion.  I  know  it  is  a  fine  pic- 
ture, just  as  I  have  sometimes  been  conscious  in  church  that  I 
was  hearing  a  fine  sermon,  which  somehow  had  not  the  slight- 
est effect  upon  me. 

Rubens,  on  the  contrary,  whose  pictures  I  detested  with  all 
the  energy  of  my  soul,  I  knew  and  felt  all  the  time,  by  the 
very  pain  he  gave  me,  to  be  a  real  living  artist.  There  was 
a  Venus  and  Cupid  there,  as  fat  and  as  coarse  as  they  could 
be,  but  so  freely  drawn,  and  so  masterly  in  their  expression 
and  handling,  that  one  must  feel  that  they  were  by  an  artist, 
who  could  just  as  easily  have  painted  them  any  other  way 
if  it  had  suited  his  sovereign  pleasure,  and  therefore  we  are 
the  more  vexed  with  him.  When  your  taste  is  crossed  by 
a  clever  person,  it  always  vexes  you  more  than  when  it  is 
24* 


282  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOIIEIGN    LANDS. 

(lone  l)j  ;i  stupid  one,  because  it  is  done  with  such  power  that 
there  is  less  hope  for  you. 

There  were  a  number  of  pictures  of  Cuyp  there,  which 
satisfied  my  thirst  for  coloring,  and  appeared  to  me  as  I  ex- 
j)ected  the  Chiudes  would  have  done.  Generally  speaking, 
his  objects  are  few  in  number  and  commonplace  in  their  char- 
acter—  a  bit  of  land  and  water,  a  few  cattle  and  figures, 
in  no  way  remarkable ;  but  then  he  floods  the  whole  with 
that  dreamy,  misty  sunlight,  such  as  fills  the  arches  of  our 
forests  in  the  days  of  autumn.  As  I  looked  at  tliom  I  fan- 
cied I  could  hear  nuts  dropping  from  the  trees  among  the 
dry  leaves,  and  see  the  goldenrods  and  purple  asters,  and 
hear  the  chck  of  the  squirrel  as  he  whips  up  the  tree  to  his 
nest.  For  tliis  one  attribute  of  golden,  dreamy  haziness,  I 
like  Cuyp.  His  power  in  shedding  it  over  very  simple  objects 
reminds  me  of  some  of  the  short  poems  of  Longfellow,  when 
things  in  themselves  most  prosaic  are  flooded  with  a  kind  of 
poetic  light  from  the  inner  soul.  These  are  merely  first  ideas 
and  impressions.  Of  course  I  do  not  make  up  my  mind  about 
any  artist  from  what  I  have  seen  here.  "We  must  not  expect 
a  painter  to  put  his  talent  into  every  picture,  more  than  a  poet 
into  every  verse  that  he  writes.  Like  other  men,  he  is  some- 
times brilliant  and  inspired,  and  at  others  dull  and  heavy.  In 
general,  however,  I  have  this  to  say,  that  there  is  some  kind 
of  fascination  about  these  old  masters  which  I  feel  very  sen- 
sibly. But  yet,  I  am  sorry  to  add  that  there  is  very  little  of 
what  I  consider  the  highest  mission  of  art  in  the  specimens  I 
have  thus  far  seen  ;  nothing  which  speaks  to  the  deepest  and  the 
highest ;  which  would  inspire  a  generous  ardor,  or  a  solemn 
religious  trust.     Vainly  I  seek  for  somethhig  divine,  and  ask 


SUNNY  MEMORIES    OP  FOREIGN   LANDS.  283 

of  art  to  bring  me  nearer  to  the  source  of  all  beauty  and  per- 
fection. I  find  wealth  of  coloring,  freedom  of  design,  and  ca- 
pability of  expression  wasting  themselves  merely  in  portraying 
trivial  sensualities  and  commonplace  ideas.  So  much  for  the 
first  essay. 

In  the  evening  we  went  to  dine  with  our  old  friends  of  the 
Dingle,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  Cropper,  Avho  are  now  spend- 
ing a  little  time  in  London.  We  were  delighted  to  meet  them 
once  more,  and  to  hear  from  our  Liverpool  friends.  Mrs. 
Cropper's  father,  Lord  Denman,  has  returned  to  England, 
though  with  no  sensible  improvement  in  his  health. 

At  dinner  we  were  introduced  to  Lord  and  Lady  Hatherton. 
Lord  Hatherton  is  a  member  of  the  whig  party,  and  has  been 
cliief  secretary  for  Ireland.  Lady  Hatherton  is  a  person  of 
great  cultivation  and  intelligence,  warmly  interested  in  all  the 
progressive  movements  of  the  day ;  and  I  gained  much  infor- 
mation in  her  society.  There  were  also  present  Sir  Charles 
and  Lady  Trevilian ;  the  former  holds  some  ai:)pointment  in 
the  navy.     Lady  Trevilian  is  a  sister  of  Macaulay. 

In  the  evening  quite  a  circle  came  in  ;  among  others.  Lady 
Emma  Campbell,  sister  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle ;  the  daughters 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  very  kindly  invited 
me  to  visit  them  at  Lambeth ;  and  Mr.  Arthur  Helps,  be- 
sides many  others  whose  names  I  need  not  mention. 

People  here  continually  apologize  for  the  weather,  which, 
to  say  the  least,  has  been  rather  ungracious  since  we  have 
been  here ;  as  if  one  ever  expected  to  find  any  thing  but 
smoke,  and  darkness,  and  fog  in  London.  The  authentic  air 
with  which  they  lament  the  existence  of  these  things  at  pres- 
ent would  almost  persuade  one  that  in  general  London  was  a 
very  clear,  bright  place.     I,  however,  assured  them  that,  hav- 


284       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

ing  heard  from  my  cliildhood  of  the  smoke  of  London,  its 
dimness  and  darkness,  I  found  tilings  much  better  than  I  had 
expected. 

They  talk  here  of  spirit  rappings  and  table  turnings,  I  find, 
as  in  America.  Many  rumors  are  afloat  which  seem  to  have 
no  other  effect  than  merely  to  enliven  the  chitchat  of  an 
evening  circle.  I  passed  a  very  pleasant  evening,  and  left 
about  ten  o'clock.  The  gentleman  who  was  handing  me 
down  stairs  said,  "I  suppose  you  are  going  to  one  or  two 
other  places  to-night."  The  idea  struck  me  as  so  prepos- 
terous that  I  could  not  help  an  exclamation  of  surprise. 

May  6.  A  good  many  calls  this  morning.  Among  others 
came  Miss  Greenfield,  the  (so  called)  Black  Swan.  She  ap- 
pears to  be  a  gentle,  amiable,  and  interesting  young  person. 
She  was  bom  the  slave  of  a  kind  mistress,  who  gave  her  every 
thing  but  education,  and,  dying,  left  her  free  with  a  little  prop- 
erty. The  property  she  lost  by  some  legal  quibble,  but  had, 
like  others  of  her  race,  a  passion  for  music,  and  could  sing  and 
play  by  ear.  A  young  lady,  discovering  her  taste,  gave  her 
a  few  lessons.  She  has  a  most  astonishing  voice.  C.  sat 
down  to  the  piano  and  played,  w^hile  she  sung.  Her  voice 
runs  through  a  compass  of  three  octaves  and  a  fourth.  This 
is  four  notes  more  than  Malibran's.  She  sings  a  most  magnif- 
icent tenor,  with  such  a  breadth  and  volume  of  sound  that, 
witli  your  back  turned,  you  could  not  imagine  it  to  be  a  wo- 
man. While  she  was  there,  Mrs.  S.  C.  Hall,  of  the  Irish 
Sketches,  was  announced.  She  is  a  tall,  well-proportioned 
woman,  with  a  fine  color,  dark-bro^^^l  hair,  and  a  cheerful,  cor- 
dial manner.  She  brought  with  her  her  only  daughter,  a 
young  girl  about  fifteen.  I  told  her  of  Miss  Greenfield,  and 
she  took  great  interest  in  her,  and  requested  her  to  sing  some- 


SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS.  285 

tiling  for  her.  C.  played  the  accompaniment,  and  she  sung 
Old  Folks  at  Home,  first  in  a  soprano  voice,  and  then  in  a 
tenor  or  baritone.  Mrs.  Hall  was  amazed  and  delighted,  and 
entered  at  once  into  her  cause.  She  said  that  she  would  call 
with  me  and  present  her  to  Sir  George  Smart,  who  is  at  the 
head  of  the  queen's  musical  establishment,  and,  of  course,  the 
acknowledged  leader  of  London  musical  judgment. 

Mrs.  Hall  very  kindly  told  me  that  she  had  called  to  invite 
me  to  seek  a  retreat  with  her  in  her  charming  little  country 
house  near  London.  I  do  not  mean  that  she  called  it  a  charm- 
ing little  retreat,  but  that  every  one  who  speaks  of  it  gives  it 
that  character.  She  told  me  that  I  should  there  have  positive 
and  perfect  quiet ;  and  what  could  attract  me  more  than  that  ? 
She  said,  moreover,  that  there  they  had  a  great  many  night- 
ingales. Ah,  this  "  bower  of  roses  by  Bendemeer's  stream," 
could  I  only  go  there  !  but  I  am  tied  to  London  by  a  hundred 
engagements.  I  cannot  do  it.  Nevertheless,  I  have  prom- 
ised that  I  will  go  and  spend  some  time  yet,  when  Mr.  S. 
leaves  London. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  I  had  a  note  from  Mrs.  Hall,  say- 
ing that,  as  Sir  George  Smart  was  about  leaving  town,  she 
had  not  waited  for  me,  but  had  taken  Miss  Greenfield  to 
him  herself.  She  writes  that  he  was  really  astonished  and 
charmed  at  the  wonderful  weight,  compass,  and  power  of  her 
voice.  He  was  also  as  well  jjleased  with  the  mind  in  her 
singing,  and  her  quickness  in  doing  and  catching  all  that  he 
told  her.  Should  she  have  a  public  opportunity  to  perform, 
he  offered  to  hear  her  rehearse  beforehand.  IMrs.  HaU  says 
this  is  a  great  deal  for  him,  whose  hours  are  all  marked  with 
gold. 

In  the  evening  the  house  was  opened  in  a  general  way  for 


28G       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

callers,  who  were  coming  and  going  all  the  evening.  I  think 
there  must  have  been  over  two  hundred  peoj^lc  —  among 
them  Martin  Farquhar  Tupper,  a  little  man,  with  fresh,  rosy 
complexion,  and  cheery,  joyous  manners  ;  and  Mary  Ilowitt, 
just  such  a  cheerful,  sensible,  fireside  companion  as  we  find 
her  in  her  books,  —  winning  love  and  trust  the  very  first 
few  moments  of  the  interview.  The  general  topic  of  re- 
mark on  meeting  me  seems  to  be,  that  I  am  not  so  bad  look- 
ing as  they  were  afraid  I  was ;  and  I  do  assure  you  that, 
when  I  have  seen  the  things  that  are  ])ut  up  in  the  shop 
windows  here  with  my  name  under  them,  I  have  been  in 
wondering  admiration  at  the  boundless  loving-kindness  of  my 
English  and  Scottish  friends,  in  keeping  up  such  a  warm  heart 
for  such  a  Gorgon.  I  should  think  that  the  Sphinx  in  the 
London  Museum  micrht  have  sat  for  most  of  them.  I  am 
going  to  make  a  collection  of  these  portraits  to  bring  home  to 
you.  There  is  a  great  variety  of  them,  and  they  will  be  use- 
ful, like  the  Irishman's  guideboard,  which  showed  where  the 
road  did  not  go. 

Before  the  evening  was  through  I  was  talked  out  and  worn 
out  —  there  was  hardly  a  chip  of  me  left.  To-morrow  at 
eleven  o'clock  comes  the  meeting  at  Stafford  House.  "What  it 
will  amount  to  I  do  not  know  ;  but  I  take  no  thought  for  the 
morrow. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       287 


LETTER    XYI. 

Mat  8. 
My  DEAR  C. :  — 

In  fulfilment  of  my  agreement,  I  will  tell  you,  as  nearly  as 
I  can  remember,  all  the  details  of  the  meeting  at  Stafford 
House. 

At  about  eleven  o'clock  we  drove  under  the  arched  car- 
riage way  of  a  mansion,  externally,  not  very  showy  in  appear- 
ance. It  stands  on  the  borders  of  St.  James's  Park,  opposite 
to  Buckingham  Palace,  with  a  street  on  the  north  side,  and 
beautiful  gardens  on  the  south,  while  the  park  is  extended  on 
the  west. 

"We  were  received  at  the  door  by  two  stately  Highlanders 
in  full  costume ;  and  what  seemed  to  me  an  innumerable  mul- 
titude of  servants  in  livery,  with  powdered  hair,  repeated  our 
names  through  the  long  corridors,  from  one  to  another. 

I  have  only  a  confused  idea  of  passing  from  passage  to 
passage,  and  from  hall  to  hall,  till  finally  we  were  introduced 
into  a  large  drawing  room.  No  person  was  present,  and  I 
was  at  full  leisure  to  survey  an  apartment  whose  arrange- 
ments more  perfectly  suited  my  eye  and  taste  than  any  I  had 
ever  seen  before.  There  was  not  any  particular  splendor  of 
furniture,  or  dazzling  display  of  upholstery,  but  an  artistic,  po- 
etic air,  resulting  from  the  arrangement  of  colors,  and  the 
disposition  of  the  works  of  virtu  with  which  the  room  abound- 
ed.    The  great  fault  in  many  splendid  rooms,  is,  that  they 


288  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

are  arranged  without  any  eye  to  unity  of  impression.  The 
tilings  in  them  may  be  all  fine  in  their  way,  but  there  is  no 
harmony  of  result. 

People  do  not  often  consider  that  there  may  be  a  general 
sentiment  to  be  expressed  in  the  arrangement  of  a  room,  as 
well  as  in  the  composition  of  a  picture.  It  is  this  leading  idea 
which  corresponds  to  what  painters  call  the  ground  tone,  or 
harmonizing  tint,  of  a  picture.  The  presence  of  this  often 
renders  a  very  simple  room  extremely  fascinating,  and  the 
absence  of  it  makes  the  most  splendid  combinations  of  fur- 
niture powerless  to  please. 

The  walls  were  covered  with  green  damask,  laid  on  flat, 
and  confined  in  its  place  by  narrow  gilt  bands,  which  bor- 
dered it  around  the  margin.  The  chairs,  ottomans,  and  sofas 
were  of  white  woodwork,  varnished  and  gilded,  covered  with 
the  same. 

The  carpet  was  of  a  green  ground,  bcdroppcd  with  a  small 
yellow  leaf;  and  in  each  window  a  circular,  standing  basket 
contained  a  whole  bank  of  primroses,  growing  as  if  in  their 
native  soil,  their  pale  yellow  blossoms  and  green  leaves  har- 
monizing admirably  with  the  general  tone  of  coloring. 

Through  the  fall  of  the  lace  curtains  I  could  see  out 
into  the  beautiful  grounds,  whose  clumps  of  blossoming  white 
lilacs,  and  velvet  grass,  seemed  so  in  harmony  with  the  green 
interior  of  the  room,  that  one  would  think  they  had  been 
arranged  as  a  continuation  of  the  idea. 

One  of  the  first  individual  objects  which  attracted  my  atten- 
tion was,  over  the  mantel-piece,  a  large,  splendid  picture  by 
Landseer,  which  I  have  often  seen  engraved.  It  represents 
the  two  eldest  children  of  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  the 
Marquis  of  Stafford,  and  Lady  Blantyre,  at  that  time  Lady 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.       289 

Levison  Gower,  in  their  childhood.  She  is  represented  as 
feeding  a  fawn ;  a  little  poodle  dog  is  holding  up  a  rose  to 
her ;  and  her  brother  is  lying  on  the  ground,  playing  with  an 
old  staghound. 

I  had  been  famihar  with  Landseer's  engravings,  but  this 
was  the  first  of  his  paintings  I  had  ever  seen,  and  I  was  struck 
with  the  rich  and  harmonious  quality  of  the  coloring.  There 
was  also  a  full-length  marble  statue  of  the  Marquis  of  Staf- 
ford, taken,  I  should  think,  at  about  seventeen  years  of  age, 
in  full  Highland  costume. 

"WTien  the  duchess  appeared,  I  thought  she  looked  hand- 
somer by  dayhght  than  in  the  evening.  She  was  dressed 
in  white  muslin,  with  a  drab  velvet  basque  slashed  with 
satin  of  the  same  color.  Her  hair  was  confined  by  a  gold 
and  diamond  net  on  the  back  part  of  her  head. 

She  received  us  with  the  same  warm  and  simple  kindness 
which  she  had  shown  before.  We  were  presented  to  the 
Duke  of  Sutherland.  He  is  a  tall,  slender  man,  with  rather 
a  thin  face,  light  brown  hair,  and  a  mild  blue  eye,  with  an  air 
of  gentleness  and  dignity.  The  delicacy  of  his  health  pre- 
vents him  from  moving  in  general  society,  or  entering  into 
pubhc  life.  He  spends  much  of  his  time  in  reading,  and  de- 
vising and  executing  schemes  of  practical  benevolence  for  the 
welfare  of  his  numerous  dependants. 

I  sought  a  little  private  conversation  with  the  duchess  in 
her  boudoir,  in  which  I  frankly  confessed  a  little  anxiety 
respecting  the  arrangements  of  the  day :  having  lived  all  my 
life  in  such  a  shady  and  sequestered  way,  and  being  entirely 
ignorant  of  fife  as  it  exists  in  the  sphere  in  which  she  moves, 
such  apprehensions  were  rather  natural. 

She  begged  that  I  would  make  myself  entirely  easy,  and 
VOL.  I.  25 


290       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

consider  myself  as  among  my  own  friends ;  that  she  had  in- 
vited a  few  friends  to  lunch,  and  that  afterwards  others  would 
call ;  that  there  would  be  a  short  address  from  the  ladies  of 
England  read  by  Lord  Shaftesbury,  which  would  require  no 
answer. 

I  could  not  but  be  grateful  for  the  consideration  thus 
evinced.  The  matter  being  thus  adjusted,  we  came  back  to 
the  drawing  room,  when  the  party  began  to  assemble. 

The  only  difference,  I  may  say,  by  the  by,  in  the  gathering 
of  such  a  company  and  one  w4th  us,  is  in  the  announcing  of 
names  at  the  door  ;  a  custom  which  I  think  a  good  one,  saving 
a  vast  deal  of  the  breath  we  always  expend  in  company,  by 
asking  "  Who  is  that  ?  and  that  ?  "  Then,  too,  people  can  fall 
into  conversation  without  a  formal  presentation,  the  presump- 
tion being  that  nobody  is  invited  with  whom  it  is  not  proper 
that  you  should  converse.  The  functionary  who  performed 
the  announcing  was  a  fine,  stalwart  man,  in  full  Highland  cos- 
tume, the  duke  being  the  head  of  a  Highland  clan. 

Among  the  first  that  entered  were  the  members  of  the  fam- 
ily, the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Argyle,  Lord  and  Lady  Blantyre, 
the  Marquis  and  Marchioness  of  Stafford,  and  Lady  Emma 
Campbell.  Then  followed  Lord  Shaftesbury  with  his  beauti- 
ful lady,  and  her  father  and  mother.  Lord  and  Lady  Pal- 
raerston.  Lord  Palmerston  is  of  middle  height,  with  a  keen, 
dark  eye,  and  black  hair  streaked  with  gray.  There  is  some- 
tliing  peculiarly  alert  and  vivacious  about  all  his  movements ; 
in  short  his  appearance  perfectly  answers  to  what  we  know  of 
him  from  his  public  life.  One  has  a  strange  mythological 
feeling  about  the  existence  of  people  of  whom  one  hears  for 
many  years  without  ever  seeing  them.  While  talking  with 
Lord  Palmerston  I  could  but  remember  how  often  I  had  heard 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       21)1 

father  and  Mr.  S.  exulting  over  his  foreign  despatches  by  our 
home  fireside. 

The  Marquis  of  Lansdowne  now  entered.  He  is  about  the 
middle  height,  -with  gi'ay  hair,  blue  eyes,  and  a  mild,  quiet 
dignity  of  manner.  He  is  one  of  those  who,  as  Lord  Henry 
Pettes,  took  a  distinguished  part  with  Clarkson  and  Wilber- 
force  in  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade.  He  has  always  been 
a  most  munificent  patron  of  literature  and  art. 

There  were  present,  also,  Lord  John  Russell,  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, and  Lord  Grenville.  The  latter  we  all  thought  very 
strikingly  resembled  in  his  appearance  the  poet  Longfellow. 
My  making  the  remark  introduced  the  subject  of  his  poetry. 
The  Duchess  of  Argj^le  appealed  to  her  two  httle  boys,  who 
stood  each  side  of  her,  if  they  remembered  her  reading  Evan- 
gehne  to  them.  It  is  a  gratification  to  me  that  I  find  by  every 
English  fireside  traces  of  one  of  our  American  poets.  These 
two  Httle  boys  of  the  Duchess  of  Argyle,  and  the  youngest  son 
of  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  were  beautiful  fair-haired  chil- 
dren, picturesquely  attired  in  the  Highland  costume.  There 
were  some  other  charming  children  of  the  family  circle  pres- 
ent. The  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle  bears  the  title 
of  the  Lord  of  Lorn,  which  Scott  has  rendered  so  poetical 
a  sound  to  our  ears. 

When  lunch  was  announced,  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  gave 
me  his  arm,  and  led  me  through  a  suite  of  rooms  into  the 
dining  hall.  Each  room  that  we  passed  was  rich  in  its  pic- 
tures, statues,  and  artistic  arrangements ;  a  poetic  eye  and 
taste  had  evidently  presided  over  all.  The  table  was  beauti- 
fully laid,  ornamented  by  two  magnificent  epergnes,  crystal 
vases  supported  by  wrought  silver  standards,  filled  with  the 
oaost  brilliant  hothouse  flowers ;  on  the  edges  of  the  vases 


292  SUNNY    3IEM0KIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

and  nestling  among  the  flowers  were  silver  cloves  of  the  size 
of  life.  Tiie  walls  of  the  room  were  hung  with  gorgeous 
pictures,  and  directly  opposite  to  me  was  a  portrait  of  the 
Duchess  of  Sutherland,  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  which  has 
figured  largely  in  our  souvenirs  and  books  of  beauty.  She  is 
represented  with  a  little  child  in  her  arms ;  this  child,  now 
Lady  Blantyre,  was  sitting  opposite  to  me  at  table,  with  a 
charming  little  girl  of  her  own,  of  about  the  same  apparent 
age.  When  one  sees  such  things,  one  almost  fancies  this  to 
be  a  fairy  palace,  wdiere  the  cold  demons  of  age  and  time 
have  lost  their  power. 

I  was  seated  next  to  Lord  Lansdowne,  who  conversed  much 
with  me  about  affaire  in  America.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
great  men  of  the  old  world  regard  our  country  thoughtfully. 
It  is  a  new  development  of  society,  acting  every  day  with 
greater  and  greater  j^owcr  on  the  old  world ;  nor  is  it  yet 
clearly  seen  what  its  final  results  will  be.  His  observations 
indicated  a  calm,  clear,  thoughtful  mind  —  an  accurate  ob- 
server of  life  and  history. 

Meanwhile  the  servants  moved  noiselessly  to  and  fro,  tidying 
u})  the  various  articles  on  the  table,  and  offering  them  to  the 
guests  in  a  peculiarly  quiet  manner.  One  of  the  dishes 
brought  to  me  w^as  a  plover's  nest,  precisely  as  the  plover 
made  it,  with  five  little  blue  speckled  eggs  in  it.  This  mode 
of  serving  plover's  eggs,  as  I  understand  it,  is  one  of  the 
fashions  of  the  day,  and  has  something  quite  sylvan  and 
j)icturesque  about  it ;  but  it  looked  so,  for  all  the  world,  like  a 
robin's  nest  that  I  used  to  watch  out  in  our  home  orchard, 
tliat  I  had  it  not  in  my  heart  to  profane  the  sanctity  of  the 
image  by  eating  one  of  the  eggs. 

The  cuisine  of  these  West  End  regions  appears  to  be  entire- 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS.  293 

ly  under  French  legislation,  conducted  by  Parisian  artists, 
skilled  in  all  subtle  and  metaphysical  combinations  of  ethe- 
real possibilities,  quite  inscrutable  to  the  eye  of  sense.  Her 
grace's  chef^  I  have  he^rd  it  said  elsewhere,  bears  the  repu- 
tation of  being  the  first  artist  of  his  class  in  England.  The 
profession  as  thus  sublimated  bears  the  same  proportion  to 
the  old  substantial  English  cookery  that  Mozart's  music  does 
to  Handel's,  or  Midsummer  Night's  Dream  to  Paradise  Lost. 

This  meal,  called  liinch^  is  with  the  English  quite  an  insti- 
tution, being  apparently  a  less  elaborate  and  ceremonious  din- 
ner. Every  thing  is  placed  upon  the  table  at  once,  and  ladies 
sit  down  without  removing  their  bonnets ;  it  is,  I  imagine,  the 
most  social  and  family  meal  of  the  day ;  one  in  which  childi-en 
are  admitted  to  the  table,  even  in  the  presence  of  company. 
It  generally  takes  place  m  the  middle  of  the  day,  and  the 
dinner,  which  comes  after  it,  at  eight  or  nine  in  the  evening, 
is  in  comparison  only  a  ceremonial  proceeding. 

I  could  not  help  thinking,  as  I  looked  around  on  so  many 
men  whom  I  had  heard  of  liistorically  all  my  life,  how  very 
much  less  they  bear  the  marks  of  age  than  men  who  have 
been  connected  a  similar  length  of  time  with  the  movements  of 
our  country.  This  appearance  of  youthfulness  and  alertness 
has  a  constantly  deceptive  influence  upon  one  in  England. 
I  cannot  realize  that  people  are  as  old  as  history  states  them 
to  be.  In  the  present  company  there  were  men  of  sixty  or 
seventy,  whom  I  should  have  pronounced  at  the  first  glance  to 
be  fifty. 

Generally  speaking  our  working  minds  seem  to  wear  out 
their  bodies  faster ;  perhaps  because  our  climate  is  more  stim- 
ulating;   more,  perhaps,  from  the  intenser  stimulus  of  our 
poHtical  regime,  which  never  leaves  any  thing  long  at  rest. 
25* 


294  SUXNl'    MEMOKIKS    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

Tlio  touG  of  manners  in  this  distinguished  circle  did  not 
obtrude  itself  upon  my  mind  as  different  from  that  of  higlily- 
educated  people  in  our  own  country.  It  appeared  simple, 
friendly,  natural,  and  sincere.  They  talked  like  people  who 
tliouglit  of  what  they  were  saying,  rather  than  how  to  say  it. 
The  ])racticc  of  thorough  culture  and  good  breeding  is  sub- 
stantially the  same  through  the  world,  though  smaller  con- 
ventionalities may  differ. 

After  lunch  the  whole  party  ascended  to  the  picture  gallery, 
passing  on  our  way  the  grand  staircase  and  hall,  said  to  be 
the  most  magnificent  in  Europe.  All  that  wealth  could  com- 
mand of  artistic  knowledge  and  skill  has  been  expended  here 
to  produce  a  superb  result.  It  lills  the  entire  centre  of  the 
building,  extending  up  to  the  roof  and  surmounted  by  a  splen- 
did dome.  On  three  sides  a  gallery  runs  round  it  supported 
by  pillars.  To  this  gallery  you  ascend  on  the  fourtli  side  by 
a  staircase,  which  midway  has  a  broad,  flat  landing,  from 
which  stairs  ascend,  on  the  riglit  and  lef^,  into  the  gallery. 
The  whole  hall  and  staircase,  carpeted  with  a  scarlet  footcloth, 
give  a  broad,  rich  mass  of  coloring,  throwing  out  finely  the 
statuary  and  gilded  balustrades.  On  the  landing  is  a  marble 
statue  of  a  Sibyl,  by  Rinaldi.  The  walls  are  adorned  by  gor- 
geous frescos  from  Paul  Veronese.  What  is  jDCCuliar  in  the 
arrangements  of  this  hall  is,  that  although  so  extensive,  it  still 
wears  an  air  of  warm  homelikeness  and  comfort,  as  if  it  might 
be  a  delightful  place  to  lounge  and  enjoy  life,  amid  the  otto- 
mans, sofas,  pictures,  and  statuary,  which  are  disposed  here 
and  there  throughout. 

All  this,  however,  I  passed  rapidly  by  as  I  ascended  the 
staircase,  and  passed  onward  to  the  picture  gallery.  This  was 
a  room  about  a  hundred  feet  long  by  forty  wide,  surmounted  by 


SUNNY    MEMORIES    OP    FOREIGN    LANDS.  295 

a  dome  gorgeously  finished  with  golden  palm  trees  and  carv- 
ing. This  hall  is  lighted  in  the  evening  by  a  row  of  gas- 
lights placed  outside  the  ground  glass  of  the  dome  ;  this  light 
is  concentrated  and  thrown  down  by  strong  reflectors,  commu- 
nicating thus  the  most  brilliant  radiance  without  the  usual  heat 
of  gas.  This  gallery  is  peculiarly  rich  in  paintings  of  the 
Spanish  school.  Among  them  are  two  superb  Murillos,  taken 
from  convents  by  Marshal  Soult,  during  the  time  of  his  career 
in  Spain. 

There  was  a  painting  by  Paul  de  la  Roche  of  the  Earl  of 
Strafford  led  forth  to  execution,  engravings  of  which  we  have 
seen  in  the  print  shops  in  America.  It  is  a  strong  and  striking 
picture,  and  has  great  dramatic  effect.  But  there  was  a  paint- 
ing in  one  corner  by  a  Flemish  artist,  whose  name  I  do  not 
now  remember,  representing  Christ  under  examination  before 
Caiaphas.  It  was  a  candle-light  scene,  and  only  two  faces  were 
very  distinct ;  the  downcast,  calm,  resolute  face  of  Christ,  in 
which  was  written  a  perfect  knowledge  of  his  approaching 
doom,  and  the  eager,  perturbed  vehemence  of  the  high  priest, 
who  was  interrogating  him.  On  the  frame  was  engraved  the 
lines,  — 

"  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions, 
He  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities  ; 
The  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him, 
And  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed." 

The  presence  of  this  picture  here  in  the  midst  of  this  scene 
was  very  affecting  to  me. 

The  company  now  began  to  assemble  and  throng  the  gal- 
lery, and  very  soon  the  vast  room  was  crowded.  Among  the 
throng  I  remember  many  presentations,  but  of  course  must 
have  forgotten  many  more.     Archbishop  Whately  was  there, 


296       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF   FOREIGN  LANDS. 

with  Mrs.  and  Miss  Wliately ;  Macaulay,  with  two  of  his  sis- 
ters ;  Milraan,  the  poet  and  historian ;  the  Bishop  of  Oxford, 
Chevaher  Brusen  and  lady,  and  many  more. 

AVhen  all  the  company  were  together  Lord  Shaftesbury  read 
a  very  short,  kind,  and  considerate  address  in  behalf  of  the 
ladies  of  England,  expressive  of  their  cordial  welcome.  The 
address  will  be  seen  in  the  Morning  Advertiser,  which  I  send 
you.  The  company  remained  a  while  after  this,  walking 
through  the  rooms  and  conversing  in  different  groups,  and  I 
talked  with  several.  Archbishop  Whately,  I  thought,  seemed 
rather  inclined  to  be  jocose  :  he  seems  to  me  like  some  of  our 
American  divines ;  a  man  who  pays  little  attention  to  forms, 
and  does  not  value  them.  There  is  a  kind  of  brusque  humor 
in  his  address,  a  downright  heartiness,  which  reminds  one  of 
western  character.  If  he  had  been  born  in  our  latitude,  in 
Kentucky  or  Wisconsin,  the  natives  would  have  called  him 
Whatcly,  and  said  he  was  a  real  steamboat  on  an  argument. 
This  is  not  precisely  the  kind  of  man  we  look  for  in  an  arch- 
bishop. One  sees  traces  of  this  humor  in  his  Historic  Doubts 
concerning  the  Existence  of  Napoleon.  I  conversed  with  some 
who  knew  him  intimately,  and  they  said  that  he  delighted  in 
puns  and  odd  turns  of  language. 

I  was  also  introduced  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  who  is  a  son 
of  Wilberforce.  He  is  a  short  man,  of  very  youthful  appear- 
ance, with  bland,  graceful,  courteous  manners.  He  is  much 
admired  as  a  speaker.  I  heard  him  spoken  of  as  one  of  the 
most  popular  preachers  of  the  day. 

I  must  not  forget  to  say  that  many  ladies  of  the  society  of 
Friends  were  here,  and  one  came  and  put  on  to  my  arm  a 
reticule,  in  which,  she  said,  were  carried  about  the  very  first 
antislavery  tracts  ever  distributed  in  England.     At  that  time 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       297 

the  subject  of  antislaveiy  was  as  unpopular  in  England  as  it 
can  be  at  this  day  any  where  in  the  world,  and  I  trust  that  a 
day  will  come  when  the  subject  will  be  as  popular  in  South 
Carolina  as  it  is  now  in  England.  People  always  glory  m  the 
right  after  they  have  done  it. 

After  a  while  the  company  dispersed  over  the  house  to  look 
at  the  rooms.  There  are  all  sorts  of  parlors  and  reception 
rooms,  furnished  with  the  same  correct  taste.  Each  room 
had  its  predominant  color  ;  among  them  blue  was  a  particular 
favorite. 

The  carpets  were  all  of  those  small  figures  I  have  described, 
the  blue  ones  being  of  the  same  pattern  with  the  green.  The 
idea,  I  suppose,  is  to  produce  a  mass  of  color  of  a  certain  tone, 
and  not  to  distract  the  eye  with  the  complicated  pattern. 
Where  so  many  objects  of  art  and  virtu  are  to  be  exhibited, 
without  this  care  in  regulating  and  simplifying  the  ground 
tints,  there  would  be  no  unity  in  the  impression.  Tliis  was 
my  philosophizing  on  tlie  matter,  and  if  it  is  not  the  reason 
why  it  is  done,  it  ought  to  be.  It  is  as  good  a  theory  as  most 
theories,  at  any  rate. 

Before  we  went  away  I  made  a  little  call  on  the  Lady  Con- 
stance Grosvenor,  and  saw  the  future  Marquis  of  Westminster, 
heir  to  the  largest  estate  in  England.  His  beautiful  mother  is 
celebrated  in  the  annals  of  the  court  journal  as  one  of  the 
handsomest  ladies  in  England.  His  little  lordship  was  pre- 
sented to  me  in  all  the  dignity  of  long,  embroidered  clothes, 
being  then,  I  believe,  not  quite  a  fortnight  old,  and  I  can  as- 
sure you  that  he  demeaned  himself  with  a  gravity  becoming 
his  rank  and  expectations. 

There  is  a  more  than  common  interest  attached  to  these 


298  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

cliiklrcn  by  one  wlio  watches  the  present  state  of  the  world. 
On  the  character  and  education  of  the  princes  and  nobility  of 
this  generation  tlie  future  history  of  England  must  greatly 
depend. 

This  Stafford  House  meeting,  in  any  view  of  it,  is  a  most 
remarkable  fact.  Kind  and  gratifying  as  its  arrangements 
have  been  to  me,  I  am  far  from  appropriating  it  to  myself 
individually,  as  a  personal  honor.  I  rather  regard  it  as  the 
most  public  expression  possible  of  the  feelings  of  the  women 
of  England  on  one  of  the  most  important  questions  of  our 
day  —  that  of  individual  liberty  considered  in  its  religious 
bearings. 

The  most  splendid  of  England's  palaces  has  this  day  opened 
its  doors  to  the  slave.  Its  treasures  of  wealth  and  of  art,  its 
prestige  of  high  name  and  historic  memories,  have  been  con- 
secrated to  the  acknowledgment  of  Christianity  in  that  form 
wherein,  in  our  day,  it  is  most  frequently  denied  —  the  recog- 
nition of  the  brotherhood  of  the  human  family,  and  the  equal 
religious  value  of  every  human  soul.  A  fair  and  noble  hand 
by  this  meeting  has  fixed,  in  the  most  pubhc  manner,  an  in- 
effaceable seal  to  the  beautiful  sentiments  of  that  most  Christian 
document,  the  letter  of  the  ladies  of  Great  Britain  to  the  ladies 
of  America.  That  letter  and  this  public  attestation  of  it  are 
now  historic  facts,  which  wait  their  time  and  the  judgment  of 
advancing  Christianity. 

Concerning  that  letter  I  have  one  or  two  things  to  say. 
Nothing  can  be  more  false  than  the  insinuation  that  has  been 
tlirown  out  in  some  American  papers,  that  it  was  a  political 
movement.  It  had  its  first  origin  in  the  deep  religious  feel- 
ings of  the  man  whose  whole  life  has  been  devoted  to  the 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       299 

abolition  of  the  white-labor  slavery  of  Great  Britain ;  the 
man  whose  eye  explored  the  darkness  of  the  collieries,  and 
counted  the  weary  steps  of  the  cotton  spinners  —  who  pen- 
etrated the  dens  where  the  insane  were  tortured  with  darkness, 
and  cold,  and  stripes ;  and  threaded  the  loathsome  alleys  of 
London,  haunts  of  fever  and  cholera :  this  man  it  was,  whose 
heart  was  overwhelmed  by  the  tale  of  American  slavery,  and 
who  could  find  no  relief  from  this  distress  except  in  raising 
some  voice  to  the  ear  of  Christianity.  Fearful  of  the  jealousy 
of  political  interference.  Lord  Shaftesbury  published  an  ad- 
dress to  the  ladies  of  England,  in  which  he  told  them  that  he 
felt  himself  moved  by  an  irresistible  impulse  to  entreat  them 
to  raise  their  voice,  in  the  name  of  a  common  Christianity  and 
womanhood,  to  their  American  sisters.  The  abuse  which  has 
fallen  upon  him  for  this  most  Christian  proceeding  does  not  in 
the  least  surprise  him,  because  it  is  of  the  kind  that  has  al- 
ways met  him  in  every  benevolent  movement.  "When  in  the 
Parliament  of  England  he  was  pleading  for  women  in  the 
collieries  who  were  harnessed  like  beasts  of  burden,  and  made 
to  draw  heavy  loads  through  miry  and  dark  passages,  and  for 
children  who  were  taken  at  three  years  old  to  labor  where  the 
sun  never  shines,  he  was  met  with  determined  and  furious  op- 
position and  obloquy  —  accused  of  being  a  disorganizer,  and 
of  wishing  to  restore  the  dark  ages.  Very  similar  accusations 
have  attended  all  his  efforts  for  the  laboring  classes  during  the 
long  course  of  seventeen  years,  which  resulted  at  last  in  the 
triumphant  passage  of  the  factory  bill. 

We  in  America  ought  to  remember  that  the  gentle  remon- 
strance of  the  letter  of  the  ladies  of  England  contains,  in  the 
mildest  form,  the  sentiments  of  universal  Christendom.     Re- 


300  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

bukes  much  more  pointed  are  coming  back  to  us  even  from  our 
own  missionaries.  A  day  is  coming  when,  past  all  the  tem- 
porary currents  of  worldly  excitement,  we  shall,  each  of  us, 
stand  alone  face  to  face  ^vitll  the  perfect  purity  of  our  lle- 
deemer.  The  thought  of  such  a  final  interview  ought  cer- 
tainly to  modify  all  our  judgments  now,  that  we  may  strive 
to  approve  only  what  we  shall  then  approve. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       301 


LETTER    XVII. 

My  dear  C:  — 

As  to  those  ridiculous  stories  about  the  Duchess  of  Suther- 
land, which  have  found  their  way  into  many  of  the  prints  in 
America,  one  has  only  to  be  here,  moving  in  society,  to  see 
how  excessively  absurd  they  are. 

All  my  way  through  Scotland,  and  through  England,  I  was 
associating,  from  day  to  day,  with  people  of  every  religious 
denomination,  and  every  rank  of  hfe.  I  have  been  with 
dissenters  and  with  churchmen;  with  the  national  Presby- 
terian church  and  the  free  Presbyterian ;  with  Quakers  and 
Baptists. 

In  all  these  circles  I  have  heard  the  great  and  noble  of  the 
land  freely  spoken  of  and  canvassed,  and  if  there  had  been 
the  least  shadow  of  a  foundation  for  any  such  accusations,  I 
certainly  should  have  heard  it  recognized  in  some  manner. 
If  in  no  other,  such  warm  friends  as  I  have  heard  speak 
would  have  alluded  to  the  subject  in  the  way  of  defence ; 
but  I  have  actually  never  heard  any  allusion  of  any  sort,  as 
if  there  was  any  thing  to  be  explained  or  accounted  for. 

As  I  have  before  intimated,  the  Howard  family,  to  which 
the  duchess  belongs,  is  one  which  has  always  been  on  the  side 
of  popular  rights  and  popular  reform.  Lord  Carlisle,  her 
brother,  has  been  a  leader  of  the  people,  particularly  during 
the  time  of  the  corn-law  reformation,  and  she  has  been  known 
to  take  a  wide  and  generous  interest  in  all  these  subjects. 
VOL.  I.  2G 


302       SUXNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

Every  where  that  I  have  moved  through  Scotland  and  Eng- 
land I  have  heard  her  kindness  of  heart,  her  affability  of 
manner,  and  her  attention  to  the  feelings  of  others  spoken  of 
as  marked  characteristics. 

Imagine,  then,  what  people  must  think  when  they  find  in 
respectable  American  prints  the  absurd  story  of  her  turning 
her  tenants  out  into  the  snow,  and  ordering  the  cottages  to  be 
set  on  fire  over  their  heads  because  they  would  not  go  out. 

But,  if  you  ask  how  such  an  absurd  story  could  ever  have 
been  made  up,  whether  there  is  the  least  foundation  to  make 
it  on,  I  answer,  that  it  is  the  exaggerated  report  of  a  move- 
ment made  by  the  present  Duke  of  Sutherland's  father,  in  the 
year  1811,  and  which  was  part  of  a  great  movement  that 
passed  tlirough  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  when  the  advan- 
cing progress  of  civilization  began  to  make  it  necessary  to 
change  the  estates  from  military  to  agricultural  establish- 
ments. 

Soon  after  the  union  of  the  crowns  of  England  and  Scot- 
land, the  border  chiefs  found  it  profitable  to  adopt  upon  their 
estates  that  system  of  agriculture  to  which  their  hills  were 
adapted,  rather  than  to  continue  the  maintenance  of  military 
retainers.  Instead  of  keeping  garrisons,  with  small  armies,  in 
a  district,  they  decided  to  keep  only  so  many  as  could  profit- 
ably cultivate  the  land.  The  effect  of  this,  of  course,  was 
like  disbanding  an  army.  It  threw  many  people  out  of  em- 
ploy, and  forced  them  to  seek  for  a  home  elsewhere.  Like 
many  other  movements  which,  in  their  final  results,  are  bene- 
ficial to  society,  this  was  at  first  vehemently  resisted,  and  had 
to  be  carried  into  effect  in  some  cases  by  force.  As  I  have 
said,  it  began  first  in  the  southern  counties  of  Scotland,  soon 
after  the  union  of  the  English  and  Scottish  cro^vns,  and  grad- 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OP  FOREIGN  LANDS.       303 

ually  crept  northwai'd  —  one  county  after  another  yielding  to 
the  change.  To  a  certain  extent,  as  it  progressed  northward, 
the  demand  for  labor  in  the  great  towns  absorbed  the  surplus 
population ;  but  when  it  came  into  the  extreme  Highlands,  this 
refuge  was  wanting.  Emigration  to  America  now  became  the 
resource  ;  and  the  surplus  population  were  induced  to  this  by 
means  such  as  the  Colonization  Society  now  recommends  and 
approves  for  promoting  emigration  to  Liberia. 

The  first  fiirm  that  was  so  formed  on  the  Sutherland  estate 
was  in  1806.  The  great  change  was  made  in  1811-12,  and 
completed  m  1819-20. 

The  Sutherland  estates  are  in  the  most  northern  portion  of 
Scotland.  The  distance  of  this  district  from  the  more  ad- 
vanced parts  of  the  kmgdom,  the  total  want  of  roads,  the 
unfrequent  communication  by  sea,  and  the  want  of  towns, 
made  it  necessary  to  adopt  a  different  course  in  regard  to  the 
location  of  the  Sutherland  population  from  that  which  circum- 
stances had  provided  in  other  parts  of  Scotland,  where  they 
had  been  removed  from  the  bleak  and  uncultivable  mountams. 
They  had  lots  given  them  near  the  sea,  or  in  more  fertile  spots, 
where,  by  labor  and  industry,  they  might  maintain  themselves. 
They  had  two  years  allowed  them  for  preparing  for  the  change, 
without  payment  of  rent.  Timber  for  their  houses  was  given, 
and  many  other  faciUties  for  assisting  their  change. 

The  general  agent  of  the  Sutherland  estate  is  Mr.  Loch. 
In  a  speech  of  tliis  gentleman  in  the  House  of  Commons,  on 
the  second  readmg  of  the  Scotch  poor-law  bill,  June  12,  1845, 
he  states  the  following  fact  with  regard  to  tlie  management  of 
the  Sutherland  estate  during  this  period,  from  1811  to  1833, 
which  certainly  can  speak  for  itself:  "  I  can  state  as  from 
fact  that,  from  1811  to  1833,  not  one  sixpence  of  rent  has 


304       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

been  received  from  that  county,  but,  on  the  contrary,  there  has 
been  sent  there,  for  tlie  benefit  and  improvement  of  the  people, 
a  sum  exceeding  sixty  thousand  pounds." 

Mr.  Loch  goes  on  in  the  same  speech  to  say,  "  There  is  no 
set  of  people  more  industrious  than  the  people  of  Sutherland. 
Thirty  years  since  they  were  engaged  in  illegal  distillation  to 
a  very  great  extent ;  at  the  present  moment  there  is  not,  I  be- 
lieve, an  illegal  still  in  the  county.  Their  morals  have  im- 
proved as  those  habits  have  been  abandoned ;  and  they  have 
added  many  hundreds,  I  beUeve  thousands,  of  acres  to  the 
land  in  cultivation  since  they  were  placed  upon  the  shore. 

"  Previous  to  that  change  to  which  I  have  referred,  they 
exported  very  few  cattle,  and  hardly  any  thing  else.  They 
were,  also,  every  now  and  then,  exposed  to  all  the  difficulties 
of  extreme  famine.  In  the  years  1812-13,  and  181G-17,  so 
great  was  the  misery  that  it  was  necessary  to  send  down  oat- 
meal for  their  supply  to  the  amount  of  nine  thousand  pounds, 
and  that  was  given  to  the  people.  But,  since  industrious 
habits  were  introduced,  and  they  Avere  settled  within  reach  of 
fishing,  no  such  calamity  has  overtaken  them.  Their  condition 
was  then  so  low  that  they  were  obliged  to  bleed  their  cattle, 
during  the  winter,  and  mix  the  blood  with  the  remnant  of  meal 
they  had,  in  order  to  save  them  from  starvation. 

"  Since  then  the  country  has  improved  so  much  that  the 
fish,  in  particular,  which  they  exported,  in  1815,  from  one  vil- 
lage alone,  Helmsdale,  (which,  previous  to  1811,  did  not 
exist,)  amounted  to  five  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
barrels  of  herring,  and  in  1844  thirty-seven  thousand  five 
hundred  and  ninety-four  barrels,  giving  employment  to  about 
three  thousand  nine  hundred  people.  This  extends  over  the 
whole  of  the  county,  in  which  fifty-six  thousand  barrels  were 
cured. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       305 

"  Do  not  let  me  be  supposed  to  say  that  there  are  not  cases 
requiring  attention  :  it  must  be  so  in  a  large  population  ;  but 
there  can  be  no  means  taken  by  a  landlord,  or  by  those  under 
him,  that  are  not  bestowed  upon  that  tenantry. 

"  It  has  been  said  that  the  contribution  by  the  heritor  (the 
duke)  to  one  kirk  session  for  the  poor  was  but  six  pounds. 
Now,  in  the  eight  parishes  which  are  called  Sutherland 
proper,  the  amount  of  the  contribution  of  the  Duke  of  Suther- 
land to  the  kirk  session  is  forty-two  pounds  a  year.  That  is  a 
very  small  sum,  but  that  sum  merely  is  so  given  because  the 
landlord  thinks  that  he  can  distribute  his  charity  in  a  more 
beneficial  manner  to  the  people ;  and  the  amount  of  charity 
which  he  gives  —  and  which,  I  may  say,  is  settled  on  them,  for 
it  is  given  regularly  —  is  above  four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
a  year. 

"  Therefore  the  statements  that  have  been  made,  so  far  from 
being  correct,  are  in  every  way  an  exaggeration  of  what  is  the 
fact.  No  portion  of  the  kingdom  has  advanced  in  prosperity 
so  much ;  and  if  the  honorable  member  (Mr.  S.  Crawford) 
w^ill  go  down  there,  I  will  give  him  every  facility  for  seeing 
the  state  of  the  people,  and  he  shall  judge  with  his  own  eyes 
whether  my  representation  be  not  correct.  I  could  go  through 
a  great  many  other  particulars,  but  I  will  not  trouble  the 
house  now  with  them.  The  statements  I  have  made  are  ac- 
curate, and  I  am  quite  ready  to  prove  them  in  any  way  that  is 
necessary." 

Tliis  same  Mr.  Loch  has  published  a  pamphlet,  in  which 
he  has  traced  out  the  effects  of  the  system  pursued  on  the 
Sutherland  estate,  in  many  very  important  particulars.  It 
appears  from  this  that  previously  to  1811  the  people  were 
generally  sub-tenants  to  middle  men,  who  exacted  high  rents, 
2G* 


306       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

and  also  various  perquisites,  such  as  tlic  delivery  of  poultry 
and  eggs,  giving  so  many  days'  labor  in  harvest  time,  cutting 
and  carrying  peat  and  stones  for  building. 

Since  1811  the  people  have  become  immediate  tenants,  at  a 
greatly  diminished  rate  of  rent,  and  released  from  all  these 
exactions.  For  instance,  in  two  parishes,  in  1812,  the  rents 
were  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety-three  pounds,  and 
in  1823  they  were  only  nine  hundred  and  seventy-two  pounds. 
In  another  parish  the  reduction  of  rents  has  amounted,  on  an 
average,  to  thirty-six  per  cent.  Previous  to  1811  the  houses 
were  turf  huts  of  the  poorest  description,  in  many  instances 
the  cattle  being  kept  under  the  same  roof  with  the  family. 
Since  1811  a  large  proportion  of  their  houses  have  been  re- 
built in  a  superior  manner — the  landlord  having  paid  them 
for  their  old  timber  where  it  could  not  ha  moved,  and  having, 
also  contributed  the  new  timber,  with  lime. 

Before  1811  all  the  rents  of  the  estates  were  used  for  the 
personal  profit  of  the  landlord  ;  but  since  that  time,  both  by 
the  present  duke  and  his  father,  all  the  rents  have  been  ex- 
pended on  improvements  in  the  county,  besides  sixty  thou- 
sand pounds  more  which  have  been  remitted  from  England  for 
the  purpose.  This  money  has  been  spent  on  churches,  school 
houses,  harbors,  public  inns,  roads,  and  bridges. 

In  1811  there  was  not  a  carriage  road  in  the  county,  and 
only  two  bridges.  Since  that  time  four  hundred  and  thirty 
miles  of  road  have  been  constructed  on  the  estate,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  proprietor  and  tenants.  There  is  not  a  turnpike 
gate  in  the  county,  and  yet  the  roads  are  kept  perfect. 

Before  1811  the  mail  was  conveyed  entirely  by  a  foot  run- 
ner, and  there  was  but  one  post  olFice  in  the  county ;  and  there 
was  no  direct  post  across  the  county,  but  letters  to  the  north 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       307 

and  west  were  forwarded  once  a  month.  A  mail  coach  has 
since  been  established,  to  which  the  late  Duke  of  Sutherland 
contributed  more  than  two  thousand  six  hundred  pounds  ;  and 
since  1834  mail  gigs  have  been  established  to  convey  letters 
to  the  north  and  west  coast,  towards  which  the  Duke  of 
Sutherland  contributes  three  hundred  pounds  a  year.  There 
are  thirteen  post  offices  and  sub-offices  in  the  county.  Before 
1811  there  was  no  inn  in  the  county  fit  for  the  reception  of 
strangers.  Smce  that  time  there  have  been  fourteen  inns 
either  built  or  enlarged  by  the  duke. 

Before  1811  there  was  scarcely  a  cart  on  the  estate  ;  all 
the  carriage  was  done  on  the  backs  of  ponies.  Tlie  cultiva- 
tion of  the  interior  was  generally  executed  with  a  rude  kind 
of  spade,  and  there  was  not  a  gig  in  the  county.  In  1845 
there  were  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty  carts  owned 
on  the  estate,  and  seven  hundred  and  eight  ploughs,  also  forty- 
one  gigs. 

Before  1812  there  was  no  baker,  and  only  two  shops.  In 
1845  there  were  eight  bakers  and  forty-six  grocer's  shops,  in 
nearly  all  of  which  shoe  blacking  was  sold  to  some  extent,  an 
unmistakable  evidence  of  advancing  civihzation. 

In  1808  the  cultivation  of  the  coast  side  of  Sutherland  was 
so  defective  that  it  was  necessary  often,  in  a  fall  of  snow,  to 
cut  down  the  young  Scotch  firs  to  feed  the  cattle  on ;  and  in 
1.808  hay  had  to  be  imported.  Noiu  the  coast  side  of  Suther- 
land exhibits  an  extensive  district  of  land  cultivated  according 
to  the  best  principles  of  modern  agriculture ;  several  thousand 
acres  have  been  added  to  the  arable  land  by  these  improve- 
ments. 

Before  1811  there  were  no  woodlands  of  any  extent  on  the 
estate,  and  timber  had  to  be  obtained  from  a  distance.     Since 


308       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

that  time  many  thousand  acres  of  'vvoodhind  liave  been  planted, 
the  thinnings  of  wliich,  being  sold  to  the  people  at  a  moderate 
rate,  have  greatly  increased  their  comfort  and  improved  their 
domestic  arrangements. 

Before  1811  there  were  only  two  blacksmiths  in  the  county. 
In  1845  there  were  forty-two  blacksmiths  and  sixty-three  car- 
penters. Before  1829  the  exports  of  the  county  consisted  of 
black  cattle  of  an  inferior  description,  pickled  salmon,  and 
some  ponies  ;  but  these  were  precarious  sources  of  profit,  as 
many  died  in  winter  for  want  of  food ;  for  example,  in  the 
spring  of  1807  two  hundred  cows,  live  hundred  cattle,  and 
more  than  two  hundred  ponies  died  in  the  parish  of  Kildonan 
alone.  Since  that  time  the  measures  pursued  by  the  Duke  of 
Sutherland,  in  introducing  improved  breeds  of  cattle,  pigs,  and 
modes  of  agriculture,  have  produced  results  in  exports  which 
tell  their  own  story.  About  forty  thousand  sheep  and  one 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand  fleeces  of  wool  are  exported 
annually  ;  also  fifty  thousand  barrels  of  herring. 

The  whole  fishing  village  of  Helmsdale  has  been  built  since 
that  time.  It  now  contains  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  curing 
yards  covered  with  slate,  and  several  streets  with  houses 
similarly  built.  The  herring  fishery,  which  has  been  men- 
tioned as  so  productive,  has  been  estabhshed  since  the  change, 
and  affords  employment  to  three  thousand  nine  hundred 
people. 

Since  1811,  also,  a  savings  bank  has  been  established  in 
every  parish,  of  which  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  is  patron  and 
treasurer,  and  the  savings  have  been  very  considerable. 

The  education  of  the  children  of  the  people  has  been  a  sub- 
ject of  deep  interest  to  the  Duke  of  Sutherland.  Besides  the 
parochial  schools,  (which  answer,  I  suppose,  to  our  district 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS.  309 

schools,)  of  wliicli  the  greater  number  have  been  rebuilt  or 
repaired  at  an  expense  exceeding  what  is  legally  required  for 
such  purposes,  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  contributes  to  the 
support  of  several  schools  for  young  females,  at  which  sewing 
and  other  branches  of  education  arc  taught ;  and  in  1844  he 
agreed  to  establish  twelve  general  assembly  schools  in  such 
parts  of  the  county  as  were  without  the  sphere  of  the  parochial 
schools,  and  to  build  school  and  schoolmasters'  houses,  which 
will,  upon  an  average,  cost  two  hundred  pounds  each  ;  and  to 
contribute  annually  two  hundred  pounds  in  aid  of  salaries  to 
the  teachers,  besides  a  garden  and  cows'  grass ;  and  m  1845 
he  made  an  arrangement  with  the  education  committee  of  the 
Free  church,  whereby  no  child,  of  whatever  persuasion,  will 
be  beyond  the  reach  of  moral  and  religious  education. 

There  are  five  medical  gentlemen  on  the  estate,  three  of 
whom  receive  allowances  from  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  for 
attendance  on  the  poor  in  the  districts  in  which  they  reside. 
An  agricultural  association,  or  farmers'  club,  has  been 
formed  under  the  patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  of 
which  the  other  proprietors  in  the  county,  and  the  larger  ten- 
antry, are  members,  which  is  in  a  very  active  and  flourishing 
state.  They  have  recently  invited  Professor  Johnston  to  visit 
Sutherland,  and  give  lectures  on  agricultural  chemistry. 

The  total  population  of  the  Sutherland  estate  is  twenty-one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-four.  To  have  the  charge 
and  care  of  so  large  an  estate,  of  course,  must  require  very 
systematic  arrangements  ;  but  a  talent  for  system  seems  to  be 
rather  the  forte  of  the  English. 

The  estate  is  first  divided  into  three  districts,  and  each  dis- 
trict is  under  the  superintendence  of  a  factor,  who  communi- 
cates with  the  duke  through  a  general  agent.     Besides  this, 


810       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

when  the  duke  is  on  the  estate,  which  is  during  a  portion  of 
every  year,  he  receives  on  Monday  whoever  of  his  tenants 
wishes  to  see  liim.  Their  complaints  or  wishes  are  presented 
in  writing ;  he  takes  them  into  consideration,  and  gives  writ- 
ten replies. 

Besides  the  three  factors  there  is  a  ground  officer,  or  sub- 
factor,  in  every  parish,  and  an  agriculturist  in  the  Dunrobin 
district,  who  gives  particular  attention  to  instructing  the  people 
in  the  best  methods  of  farming.  The  factors,  the  ground  of- 
ficers, and  the  agriculturists  all  work  to  one  common  end. 
They  teach  the  advantages  of  draining ;  of  ploughing  deep, 
and  forming  their  ridges  in  straight  lines ;  of  constructing 
tanks  for  saving  liquid  manure.  The  young  farmers  also  pick 
up  a  great  deal  of  knowledge  when  working  as  ploughmen  or 
laborers  on  the  more  immediate  grounds  of  the  estate. 

The  head  agent,  Mr.  Loch,  has  been  kind  enough  to  put 
into  my  hands  a  general  report  of  the  condition  of  the  estate, 
which  he  drew  up  for  the  inspection  of  the  duke,  May  12, 
1853,  and  in  which  he  goes  minutely  over  the  condition  of 
every  part  of  the  estate. 

One  anecdote  of  the  former  Duke  of  Sutherland  will  show 
the  spirit  which  has  influenced  the  family  in  thei;*  management 
of  the  estate.  In  1817,  when  there  was  much  suffering  on 
account  of  bad  seasons,  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  sent  down 
his  chief  agent  to  look  into  the  condition  of  the  peo2)le,  who 
desired  the  ministers  of  the  parishes  to  send  in  their  lists  of 
the  poor.  To  his  surprise  it  was  found  that  there  were  lo- 
cated on  the  estate  a  number  of  people  who  had  settled  there 
without  leave.  They  amounted  to  four  hundred  and  eight 
families,  or  two  thousand  persons ;  and  though  they  had  no 
legal  title  to  remain  where  they  were,  no  hesitation  was  shown 


SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS.  311 

in  supplying  them  with  food  in  the  same  manner  with  those 
who  were  tenants,  on  the  sole  condition  that  on  the  first  op- 
portunity they  should  take  cottages  on  the  sea  shore,  and  be- 
come industrious  people.  It  was  the  constant  object  of  the 
duke  to  keep  the  rents  of  his  poorer  tenants  at  a  nominal 
amount. 

What  led  me  more  particularly  to  inquire  into  these  facts 
was,  that  I  received  by  mail,  while  in  London,  an  account 
containing  some  of  these  stories,  which  had  been  industriously 
circulated  in  America.  There  were  dreadful  accounts  of  cru- 
elties practised  in  the  process  of  inducing  the  tenants  to  change 
their  places  of  residence.  The  following  is  a  specimen  of 
these  stories:  — 

"  I  was  present  at  the  pullmg  down  and  burning  of  the  house 
of  William  Chisholm,  Badinloskin,  in  which  was  lying  his 
wife's  mother,  an  old,  bed-ridden  woman  of  near  one  hundred 
years  of  age,  none  of  the  family  being  present.  I  informed 
the  persons  about  to  set  fire  to  the  house  of  this  circumstance, 
and  prevailed  on  them  to  wait  till  Mr.  Sellar  came.  On  his 
arrival  I  told  him  of  the  poor  old  woman  being  in  a  condition 
unfit  for  removal.  He  replied,  ^  Damn  her,  the  old  witch,  she 
has  lived  too  long  ;  let  her  burn.'  Fire  was  immediately  set 
to  the  house,  and  the  blankets  in  which  she  was  carried  were 
in  flames  before  she  could  be  got  out.  She  was  placed  in  a 
little  shed,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  they  were  prevented 
from  firing  that  also.  The  old  woman's  daughter  arrived  while 
the  house  was  on  fire,  and  assisted  the  neighbors  in  removing 
her  mother  out  of  the  flames  and  smoke,  presenting  a  picture 
of  horror  wliich  I  shall  never  forget,  but  cannot  attempt  to 
describe.     She  died  within  five  days." 

With  regard  to  this  story  Mr.  Loch,  the  agent,  says,  "I 


312  SUNNY    MEMORIES    OF    FOREIGN    LANDS. 

must  notice  the  only  thing  like  a  fact  stated  in  the  newspaper 
extract  Avhich  you  sent  to  me,  wherein  Mr.  Sellar  is  accused 
of  acts  of  cruelty  towards  some  of  the  people.  This  Mr.  Sel- 
lar tested,  by  bringing  an  action  against  tlie  then  sheriff  sub- 
stitute of  the  county.  lie  obtained  a  verdict  for  heavy  dam- 
ages. The  sheriff,  by  whom  the  slander  was  propagated,  left 
the  county.     Both  are  since  dead." 

Having,  through  Lord  Shaftesbury's  kindness,  received  the 
benefit  of  Mr.  Loch's  corrections  to  this  statement,  I  am  per- 
mitted to  make  a  little  further  extract  from  his  reply.  He 
says,— 

"  In  addition  to  what  I  was  able  to  say  in  my  former  paper, 
I  can  now  state  that  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  has  received, 
from  one  of  the  most  determined  opposers  of  the  measure, 
who  travelled  to  the  north  of  Scotland  as  editor  of  a  news- 
paper,  a  letter  regretting  all  he  had  written  on  the  subject, 
being  convinced  that  he  was  entirely  misinformed.  As  you 
take  so  much  interest  in  the  sulyect,  I  will  conclude  by  saying 
that  nothing  could  exceed  the  prosperity  of  the  county  during 
the  past  year  ;  their  stock,  sheep,  and  other  things  sold  at  high 
prices  ;  their  crops  of  grain  and  turnips  were  never  so  good, 
and  the  potatoes  were  free  from  all  disease  ;  rents  have  been 
paid  better  than  was  ever  known.  *  *  *  ^j5  an  instance 
of  the  improved  habits  of  the  farmers,  no  house  is  now  built 
for  them  that  they  do  not  require  a  hot  bath  and  water 
closets." 

From  this  long  epitome  you  can  gather  the  following  re- 
sults ;  first,  if  the  system  were  a  bad  one,  the  Duchess  of 
Sutherland  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  since  it  was  first  intro- 
duced in  1806,  the  same  year  her  grace  was  born  ;  and  the 
accusation  against  Mr.  Sellar  dates  in  1811,  when  her  grace 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OP   FOKEIGN   LANDS.  313 

was  five  or  six  years  old.  The  Sutherland  arrangements 
were  completed  in  1819,  and  her  grace  was  not  married  to 
the  duke  till  1823,  so  that,  had  the  arrangement  been  the 
worst  in  the  world,  it  is  nothing  to  the  purpose  so  far  as  she 
is  concerned. 

As  to  whether  the  arrangement  is  a  bad  one,  the  facts  which 
have  been  stated  speak  for  themselves.  To  my  view  it  is  an 
almost  sublime  instance  of  the  benevolent  employment  of  su- 
perior wealth  and  power  in  shortening  the  struggles  of  advan- 
cing civihzation,  and  elevating  in  a  few  years  a  whole  com- 
munity to  a  point  of  education  and  material  prosperity,  which, 
unassisted,  they  might  never  have  obtained. 
VOL.  1.  27 


SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN   LANDS. 


LETTER    XVIII. 

London,  Sunday,  May  8. 
My  DEAR  S. :  — 

Mr.  S.  is  very  unwell,  in  bed,  worn  out  with  the  threefold 
labor  of  making  and  receiving  calls,  visiting,  and  delivering 
public  addresses.  C.  went  to  hear  Dr.  McXeile,  of  Liverpool, 
preach  —  one  of  the  leading  men  of  the  established  church 
evangelical  party,  a  strong  millenarian.  C.  said  that  he  was 
as  fine  a  looking  person  in  canonicals  as  he  ever  saw  in  the 
pulpit.  In  doctrine  he  is  what  we  in  America  should  call 
very  strong  old  school.  I  went,  as  I  had  always  predeter- 
mined to  do,  if  ever  I  came  to  London,  to  hear  Baptist  Noel, 
drawn  thither  by  the  melody  and  memory  of  those  beautiful 
hymns  of  his,*  which  must  meet  a  response  in  every  Christian 
heart.  He  is  tall  and  well  formed,  with  one  of  the  most  clas- 
sical and  harmonious  heads  I  ever  saw.  Singularly  enough, 
he  reminded  me  of  a  bust  of  Achilles  at  the  I^ondon  Museum. 
He  is  indeed  a  swift-footed  Achilles,  but  in  another  race,  an- 
other warfare.  Born  of  a  noble  family,  naturally  endowed  with 
sensitiveness  and  ideality  to  appreciate  all  the  amenities  and 
suavities  of  that  brilliant  sphere,  the  sacrifice  must  have  been 
inconceivably  great  for  him  to  renounce  favor  and  preferment, 
position  in  society, — which,  here  in  England,  means  more 

*  The  hymns  beginning  with  these  lines,   "  If  human  kindness  meet 
rctiirn,"  and  *' Behold  vhere,  in  a  mortal  form,"  are  specimens. 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       315 

than  Americans  can  ever  dream  of,  —  to  descend  from  being 
a  court  chaplain,  to  become  a  preacher  in  a  Baptist  dissenting 
chapel.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  correctness  of  the 
intellectual  conclusions  which  led  him  to  such  a  step,  no  one 
can  fail  to  revere  the  strength  and  pm-ity  of  principle  which 
could  prompt  to  such  sacrifices.  Many,  perhaps,  might  have 
preferred  that  he  should  have  chosen  a  less  decided  course. 
But  if  his  judgment  really  led  to  these  results,  I  see  no  way 
in  which  it  was  possible  for  him  to  have  avoided  it.  It  was 
with  an  emotion  of  reverence  that  I  contrasted  the  bareness, 
plainness,  and  poverty  of  the  little  chapel  with  that  evident 
air  of  elegance  and  cultivation  which  appeared  in  all  that  he 
said  and  did.  The  sermon  was  on  the  text,  "  Now  abideth 
faith,  hope,  and  charity,  these  three."  Naturally  enough,  the 
subject  divided  itself  into  faith,  hope,  and  charity. 

His  style  calm,  flowing,  and  perfectly  harmonious,  his  de- 
livery serene  and  graceful,  the  whole  flowed  over  one  like  a 
calm  and  clear  strain  of  music.  It  was  a  sermon  after  the 
style  of  Tholuck  and  other  German  sermonizers,  w^ho  seem  to 
hold  that  the  purpose  of  preaching  is  not  to  rouse  the  soul  by 
an  antagonistic  struggle  with  sin  through  the  reason,  but  to 
soothe  the  passions,  quiet  the  will,  and  bring  the  mind  into  a 
frame  in  w^hich  it  shall  incline  to  follow  its  own  convictions  of 
duty.  They  take  for  granted,  that  the  reason  why  men  sin  is 
not  because  they  are  ignorant,  but  because  they  are  distracted 
and  tempted  by  passion  ;  that  they  do  not  need  so  much  to  be 
told  what  is  their  duty,  as  persuaded  to  do  it.  To  me,  brought 
up  on  the  very  battle  field  of  controversial  theology,  accus- 
tomed to  hear  every  rehgious  idea  guarded  by  definitions,  and 
thorougldy  hammered  on  a  logical  anvil  before  the  preacher 
thought  of  making  any  use  of  it  for   heart  or  conscience, 


516       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

though  I  enjoyed  the  discourse  extremely,  I  could  not  help 
wondering  what  an  American  theological  professor  would 
make  of  such  a  sermon. 

To  preach  on  faith,  hope,  and  charity  all  in  one  discourse  — 
why,  we  should  have  six  sermons  on  the  nature  of  faith  to 
begin  with :  on  speculative  faith ;  saving  faith ;  practical 
faith,  and  the  faith  of  miracles ;  then  we  should  have  the  laws 
of  faith,  and  the  connection  of  faith  with  evidence,  and  the 
nature  of  evidence,  and  the  different  kinds  of  evidence,  and 
so  on.  For  my  part  I  have  had  a  suspicion  since  I  have  been 
here,  that  a  touch  of  this  kind  of  tiling  might  improve  Eng- 
lish preaching ;  as,  also,  I  do  think  that  sermons  of  the  kind  I 
have  described  would  be  useful,  by  way  of  alterative,  among 
us.  If  I  could  have  but  one  of  the  two  manners,  I  should 
prefer  our  own,  because  I  think  that  this  habit  of  preaching 
is  one  of  the  strongest  educational  forces  that  forms  the  mind 
of  our  country. 

After  the  service  was  over  I  went  into  the  vestry,  and  was 
introduced  to  Mr.  Noel.  The  congregation  of  the  estabhshed 
church,  to  which  he  ministered  during  his  connection  with  it, 
are  still  warmly  attached  to  him.  His  leaving  them  was  a 
dreadful  trial ;  some  of  them  can  scarcely  mention  his  name 
without  tears.  C.  says,  with  regard  to  the  church  singing,  as 
far  as  he  heard  it,  it  is  twenty  years  behind  that  in  Boston. 
In  the  afternoon  I  staid  at  home  to  nurse  Mr.  S.  A  note 
from  Lady  John  Russell  inviting  us  there. 

Monday,  May  9.  I  should  tell  you  that  at  the  Duchess  of 
Sutherland's  an  artist,  named  Bumard,  presented  me  with  a 
very  fine  cameo  head  of  Wilberforce,  cut  from  a  statue  in 
Westminster  Abbey.  He  is  from  Cornwall,  in  the  south  of 
England,  and  has  attained  some  celebrity  as  an  artist.     He 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       317 

wanted  to  take  a  bust  of  me ;  and  though  it  always  makes  me 
laugh  to  think  of  having  a  new  likeness,  considering  the  mel- 
ancholy results  of  all  former  enterprises,  yet  still  I  find  myself 
easy  to  be  entreated,  in  hopes,  as  Mr.  Micawber  says,  that 
something  may  "  turn  up,"  though  I  fear  the  difficulty  is  radi- 
cal in  the  subject.  So  I  made  an  appointment  with  Mr.  Bur- 
nard,  and  my  very  kind  friend,  Mr.  B.,  in  addition  to  all  the 
other  confusions  I  have  occasioned  in  his  mansion,  consented 
to  have  his  study  turned  into  a  studio.  Upon  the  heels  of  this 
comes  another  sculptor,  who  has  a  bust  begun,  which  he  says 
is  going  to  be  finished  in  Parian,  and  published  whether  I  sit 
for  it  or  not,  though,  of  course,  he  would  much  prefer  to  get 
a  look  at  me  now  and  then.  Well,  Mr.  B.  says  he  may  come, 
too ;  so  there  you  may  imagine  me  in  the  study,  perched  upon 
a  very  high  stool,  dividing  my  glances  between  the  two  sculp- 
tors, one  of  whom  is  taking  one  side  of  my  face,  and  one  the 
other. 

To-day  I  went  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  to  hear  the  exam- 
ination of  a  borough-school  for  boys.  Mrs.  B.  told  me  it  was 
not  precisely  a  charity  school,  but  one  where  the  means  of 
education  were  furnished  at  so  cheap  a  rate,  that  the  poorest 
classes  could  enjoy  them.  Arrived  at  the  hall,  we  found  quite 
a  number  of  distinc/ues,  bishops,  lords,  and  clergy,  besides 
numbers  of  others  assembled  to  hear.  The  room  was  hung 
round  with  the  drawings  of  the  boys,  and  specimens  of  hand- 
writing. I  was  quite  astonished  at  some  of  them.  They 
were  executed  by  pen,  pencil,  or  crayon  —  drawings  of  ma- 
chinery, landscapes,  heads,  groups,  and  flowers,  all  in  a  style 
which  any  parent  among  us  would  be  proud  to  exhibit,  if 
done  by  our  own  cliildren.  The  boys  looked  very  bright  and 
intelligent,  and  I  was  delighted  with  the  system  of  instruction 
27* 


318  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

which  had  evidently  been  pursued  with  them.  We  heard 
them  first  in  the  reading  and  recitation  of  poetry ;  after  that 
in  arithmetic  and  algebra,  then  in  natural  philosophy,  and  last, 
and  most  satisfactorily,  in  the  Bible.  It  was  perfectly  evident 
from  the  nature  of  the  questions  and  answers,  that  it  was  not 
a  crammed  examination,  and  that  the  readiness  of  reply  pro- 
ceeded not  from  a  mere  commitment  of  words,  but  from  a 
system  of  intellectual  training,  which  led  to  a  good  understand- 
ing of  the  subject.  In  ai'ithmetic  and  algebra  the  answers 
were  so  remarkable  as  to  induce  the  belief  in  some  that  the 
boys  must  have  been  privately  prepared  on  their  questions  ; 
but  the  teacher  desired  Lord  John  Russell  to  Avrite  down  any 
number  of  questions  which  he  wished  to  have  given  to  the 
boys  to  solve,  from  his  o^vn  mind.  Lord  John  wrote  down 
two  or  three  problems,  and  I  was  amused  at  the  zeal  and 
avidity  with  w^liich  the  boys  seized  upon  and  mastered  them. 
Young  England  was  evidently  wide  awake,  and  the  prime 
minister  himself  was  not  to  catch  them  napping.  The  little 
fellows'  eyes  glistened  as  they  rattled  oflf  their  solutions. 
As  I  know  nothing  about  mathematics,  I  was  all  the  more  im- 
pressed ;  but  when  they  came  to  be  examined  in  the  Bible,  I 
was  more  astonished  than  ever.  The  masters  had  said  that 
they  would  be  willing  any  of  the  gentlemen  should  question 
them,  and  Mr.  B.  commenced  a  course  of  questions  on  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity ;  asking,  Is  there  any  text  by  which 
you  can  prove  this,  or  that  ?  and  immediately,  with  great  ac- 
curacy, the  boys  Avould  cite  text  upon  text,  quoting  not  only 
the  more  obvious  ones,  but  sometimes  applyuig  Scripture  with 
an  ingenuity  and  force  which  I  had  not  thought  of,  and  al- 
ways quoting  chapter  and  verse  of  every  text.  I  do  not  know 
who  is  at  the  head  of  this  teaching,  nor  how  far  it  is  a  sample 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.      319 

of  English  schools ;  but  I  know  that  these  boys  had  been  won  • 
derfuUy  well  taught,  and  I  felt  all  my  old  professional  enthu- 
siasm arising. 

After  the  examination  Lord  John  came  forward,  and  gave 
the  boys  a  good  fatherly  talk.  He  told  them  that  they  had 
the  happiness  to  live  under  a  free  government,  where  all 
offices  are  alike  open  to  industry  and  merit,  and  where  any 
boy  might  hope  by  application  and  talent  to  rise  to  any  station 
below  that  of  the  sovereign.  He  made  some  sensible,  prac- 
tical comments  on  their  Scripture  lessons,  and,  in  short,  gave 
precisely  such  a  kind  of  address  as  one  of  our  New  England 
judges  or  governors  might  to  schoolboys  in  similar  circum- 
stances. Lord  John  hesitates  a  little  in  his  delivery,  but  has 
a  plain,  common-sense  way  of  "speaking  right  on,"  which 
seems  to  be  taking.  He  is  a  very  simple  man  in  his  manners, 
apparently  not  at  all  self-conscious,  and  entered  into  the  feel- 
ings of  the  boys  and  the  masters  with  good-natured  sympathy, 
which  was  very  winning.  I  should  think  he  was  one  of  the 
kind  of  men  who  are  always  perfectly  easy  and  self-possessed 
let  what  will  come,  and  who  never  could  be  placed  in  a  situa- 
tion in  which  he  did  not  feel  himself  quite  at  home,  and  per- 
fectly competent  to  do  whatever  was  to  be  done. 

To-day  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland  called  with  the  Duchess 
of  Argyle.  Miss  Greenfield  happened  to  be  present,  and  I 
begged  leave  to  present  her,  giving  a  slight  sketch  of  her  his- 
tory. I  was  pleased  with  the  kind  and  easy  affability  with 
which  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland  conversed  with  her,  betray- 
ing by  no  inflection  of  voice,  and  nothing  in  air  or  manner, 
the  great  lady  talking  with  the  poor  girl.  She  asked  all  her 
questions  with  as  much  delicacy,  and  made  her  request  to  hear 
her  sing  with  as  much  consideration  and  politeness,  as  if  she 


320       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

had  been  addressing  any  one  in  her  own  circle.  She  seemed 
much  pleased  with  her  singing,  and  remarked  that  she  should 
be  happy  to  give  her  an  opportunity  of  performing  in  Staf- 
ford House,  so  soon  as  she  should  be  a  little  reheved  of  a 
heavy  cold  which  seemed  to  oppress  her  at  present.  This, 
of  course,  will  be  decisive  in  her  favor  in  London.  The 
duchess  is  to  let  us  know  when  the  arrangement  is  com- 
pleted. 

I  never  realized  so  much  that  there  really  is  no  natural 
prejudice  against  color  in  the  human  mind.  Miss  Greenfield 
is  a  dark  mulattress,  of  a  pleasing  and  gentle  face,  though 
by  no  means  handsome.  She  is  short  and  thick  set,  with  a 
chest  of  great  amplitude,  as  one  would  think  on  hearing  her 
tenor.  I  have  never  seen  in  any  of  the  persons  to  whom  I 
have  presented  her  the  least  indications  of  suppressed  sur- 
prise or  disgust,  any  more  than  we  should  exhibit  on  the 
reception  of  a  dark-complexioned  Spaniard  or  Portuguese. 
Miss  Greenfield  bears  her  success  with  much  quietness  and 
good  sense. 

Tuesday,  INIay  10.  C.  and  I  were  to  go  to-day,  with  Mrs. 
Cropper  and  Lady  Ilathertou,  to  call  on  the  poet  Rogers.  I 
was  told  that  he  was  m  very  deHcate  health,  but  that  he  still 
received  friends  at  his  house.  We  found  the  house  a  jier- 
fect  cabinet  collection  of  the  most  rare  and  costly  works  of 
art  —  choicest  marbles,  vases,  pictures,  gems,  and  statuary 
met  the  eye  every  where.  "We  spent  the  time  in  examining 
some  of  these  while  the  servant  went  to  announce  us.  The 
mild  and  venerable  old  man  himself  was  the  choicest  picture 
of  all.  He  has  a  splendid  head,  a  benign  face,  and  reminded 
me  of  an  engraving  I  once  saw  of  Titian.  He  seemed  very 
glad  to  see  us,  spoke  to  me  of  the  gathering  at  Stafford  House, 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       321 

and  asked  me  what  I  thought  of  the  place.  When  I  expressed 
my  admiration,  he  said,  "  Ah,  I  have  often  said  it  is  a  fairy 
palace,  and  that  the  duchess  is  the  good  faiiy."  Again,  he 
said,  "  I  have  seen  all  the  palaces  of  Europe,  but  there  is 
none  that  I  prefer  to  this."  Quite  a  large  circle  of  friends 
now  came  in  and  were  presented.  He  did  not  rise  to  receive 
them,  but  sat  back  in  his  easy  chair,  and  conversed  quietly 
with  us  all,  sparkling  out  now  and  then  in  a  little  ripple  of 
playfulness.  In  this  room  were  his  best  beloved  pictures, 
and  it  is  his  pleasure  to  show  them  to  his  friends. 

By  a  contrivance  quite  new  to  me,  the  pictures  are  made  to 
revolve  on  a  pivot,  so  that  by  touching  a  spring  they  move 
out  from  the  wall,  and  can  be  seen  in  different  lights.  There 
was  a  picture  over  the  mantel-piece  of  a  Eoman  Triumphal 
Procession,  painted  by  Rubens,  which  attracted  my  attention 
by  its  rich  coloring  and  spirited  lepresentation  of  animals. 

The  coloring  of  Rubens  always  satisfies  my  eye  better  than 
that  of  any  other  master,  only  a  sort  of  want  of  grace  in  the 
conception  disturbs  me.  In  this  case  both  conception  and 
coloring  are  replete  with  beauty.  Rogers  seems  to  be  care- 
fully waited  on  by  an  attendant  who  has  learned  to  interpret 
every  motion  and  anticipate  every  desire. 

I  took  leave  of  hun  with  a  touch  of  sadness.  Of  all  the 
brilliant  circle  of  poets,  which  has  so  delighted  us,  he  is  the  last 
—  and  he  so  feeble !  His  memories,  I  am  told,  extend  back  to  a 
personal  knowledge  of  Dr.  Johnson.  How  I  should  like  to  sit 
by  him,  and  search  into  that  cabmet  of  recollections  !  He  pre- 
sented me  his  poems,  beautifully  illustrated  by  Turner,  with 
his  own  autograph  on  the  fly  leaf.  He  writes  still  a  clear, 
firm,  beautiful  hand,  like  a  lady's. 

After  that,  we  all  went  over  to   Stafford  House,  and  the 


o22  SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

Duke  and  Duchess  of  Sutherland  went  with  us  into  Lord 
Ellesmere's  collection  adjoining.  Lord  Ellesmere  sails  for 
America  to-day,  to  be  present  at  the  opening  of  the  Crys- 
tal Palace.  lie  left  us  a  v^ry  pohte  message.  The  Duchess 
of  Argyle,  with  her  two  little  boys,  was  there  also.  Lord 
CarHsle  very  soon  came  in,  and  with  him  —  who  do  you 
think  ?  Tell  Hattie  and  Eliza  if  they  could  have  seen  the 
noble  staghound  that  came  bounding  in  with  him,  they  would 
have  turned  from  all  the  pictures  on  the  wall  to  this  living 
work  of  art. 

Landseer  thinks  he  does  well  when  he  paints  a  dog ;  an- 
otlier  man  chisels  one  in  stone:  what  would  they  think  of 
themselves  if  they  could  string  the  nerves  and  muscles,  and 
wake  up  the  affections  and  instincts,  of  the  real,  living  crea- 
ture ?  That  were  to  be  an  artist  indeed !  The  dog  walked 
about  the  gallery,  much  at  home,  putting  his  nose  up  first  to 
one  and  then  another  of  the  distinguished  persons  by  whom 
he  was  surrounded ;  and  once  in  a  while  stopping,  in  an  easy 
race  about  the  hall,  would  plant  himself  before  a  picture,  with 
liis  head  on  one  side,  and  an  air  of  high-bred  approval,  much 
as  I  have  seen  young  gentlemen  do  in  similar  circumstances. 
All  he  wanted  was  an  eyeglass,  and  he  would  have  been  per- 
fectly set  up  as  a  critic. 

As  for  the  pictures,  I  have  purposely  delayed  coming  to 
them.  Imagine  a  botanist  dropped  into  the  middle  of  a 
blooming  prairie,  waving  with  unnumbered  dyes  and  forms  of 
flowers,  and  only  an  hour  to  examine  and  make  acquaintance 
with  them!  Room  after  room  we  passed,  filled  with  Titians, 
Murillos,  Guides,  &c.  There  were  four  Raphaels,  the  first  I 
had  ever  seen.  Must  I  confess  the  truth  ?  Raphael  had 
been   my  dream   for   years.      I   expected   something  wliich 


SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS.       323 

would  overcome  and  bewilder  me.  I  expected  a  divine 
baptism,  a  celestial  mesmerism ;  and  I  found  four  very  beau- 
tiful pictures  —  pictures  wliich  left  me  quite  in  possession  of 
my  senses,  and  at  liberty  to  ask  myself,  am  I  pleased,  and 
how  much  ?  It  was  not  that  I  did  not  admire,  for  I  did  ;  but 
that  I  did  not  admire  enough.  The  pictures  arc  all  holy  fam- 
ilies, cabinet  size  :  the  figures,  Mary,  Joseph,  the  infant  Jesus, 
and  John,  in  various  attitudes.  A  little  perverse-  imp  in  my 
heart  suggested  the  questions,  "  If  a  modern  artist  had  painted 
these,  what  would  be  thought  of  them  ?  If  I  did  not  know 
it  was  Raphael,  what  should  I  think  ?  "  And  I  confess  that, 
in  that  case,  I  should  think  that  there  was  in  one  or  two  of 
them  a  certain  hardness  and  sharpness  of  outhne  that  was  not 
pleasing  to  me.  Neither,  any  more  than  Murlllo,  has  he  in 
these  pictures  shadowed  forth,  to  my  eye,  the  idea  of  Mary. 
Protestant  as  I  am,  no  CathoHc  picture  contents  me.  I 
thought  to  myself  that  I  had  seen  among  living  women,  and 
in  a  face  not  far  off,  a  nobler  and  sweeter  idea  of  womanhood. 
It  is  too  much  to  ask  of  any  earthly  artist,  however,  to 
gratify  the  aspirations  and  cravings  of  those  who  have  dreamed 
of  them  for  years  unsatisfied.  Perhaps  no  earthly  canvas  and 
brush  can  accomplish  this  marvel.  I  think  the  idealist  must 
lay  aside  his  highest  ideal,  and  be  satisfied  he  shall  never  meet 
it,  and  then  he  will  begin  to  enjoy.  With  this  mood  and  under- 
standing I  did  enjoy  very  much  an  Assumption  of  the  Virgin, 
by  Guido,  and  more  especially  Diana  and  her  Nymphs,  by 
Titian  :  in  this  were  that  softness  of  outline,  and  that  blending 
of  Ijght  and  shadow  into  each  other,  of  which  I  felt  the  want 
in  the  Raphaels.  I  felt  as  if  there  was  a  perfection  of  culti- 
vated art  in  this,  a  classical  elegance,  which,  so  far  as  it  went, 
left  the  eye  or  mind  nothing  to  desire.     It  seemed  to  me  that 


324  SUNNY   MEMORIES    OF   FOREIGN    LANDS. 

Titian  was  a  Greek  painter,  the  painter  of  an  etherealized 
sensuousness,  which  leaves  the  spiritual  nature  wholly  un- 
moved, and  therefore  all  that  he  attempts  he  attains.  Raphael, 
on  the  contrary,  has  spiritualism ;  his  works  enter  a  sphere 
where  it  is  more  difficult  to  satisfy  the  soul;  nay,  perhaps 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  impossible. 

There  were  some  glorious  pieces  of  sunshine  by  Cuyp. 
There  was  a  massive  sea  piece  by  Turner,  in  which  the  strong 
solemn  swell  of  the  green  waves,  and  the  misty  wreathings 
of  clouds,  were  powerfully  given. 

There  was  a  highly  dramatic  piece,  by  Paul  de  la  Roche, 
representing  Charles  I.  in  a  guard  foom,  insulted  by  the  sol- 
diery. He  sits,  pale,  calm,  and  resolute,  while  they  are  pufTmg 
tobacco  smoke  in  his  face,  and  passing  vulgar  jokes.  His 
thoughts  appear  to  be  far  away,  his  eyes  looking  beyond  them 
with  an  air  of  patient,  proud  weariness. 

Independently  of  the  pleasure  one  receives  from  particular 
pictures  in  these  galleries,  there  is  a  general  exaltation,  apai't 
from  critical  considerations,  an  excitement  of  the  nerves,  a 
kind  of  dreamy  state,  which  is  a  gain  in  our  experience. 
Often  in  a  landscape  we  first  single  out  particular  objects, 
—  this  old  oak,  —  that  cascade,  —  that  ruin,  —  and  derive  from 
them  an  individual  joy;  then  relapsing,  we  view  the  land- 
scape as  a  whole,  and  seem  to  be  surrounded  by  a  kind  of 
atmosphere  of  thought,  the  result  of  the  combined  influence 
of  all.  This  state,  too,  I  Jhink  is  not  without  its  influence  in 
educating  the  aesthetic  sense. 

Even  in  pictures  which  we  comparatively  reject,  because 
we  see  them  in  the  presence  of  superior  ones,  there  is  a  wealth 
of  beauty  which  would  grow  on  us  from  day  to  day,  could  we 
see  them  often.     "When  I  give  a  sigh  to  the  thought,  that  in 


SnNNT  MEMORIES  OF  FOEEIGN  LANDS.       325 

our  country  we  are  of  necessity,  to  a  great  extent,  shut  from 
the  world  of  art,  I  then  rejoice  in  the  inspiriting  thought  that 
Nature  is  ever  the  superior.  No  tree  painting  can  compare 
With  a  splendid  elm,  in  the  plenitude  of  its  majesty.  There 
are  colorings  beyond  those  of  Rubens  poured  forth  around  us 
in  every  autumn  scene;  there  are  MuriUos  smdmg  by  our 
household  firesides  ;  and  as  for  Madonnas  and  Venuses, 
think  with  Byron, — 

« I've  seen  more  splendid  women,  ripe  and  real, 
Than  all  the  nonsense  of  their  stone  ideal." 

Still,  I  long  for  the  full  advent  of  our  American  day  of 

art,  ahready  dawning  auspiciously.  ,,,«,,  -v.„,.j 

After  finishing  our  inspection,  we  went  back  to  Stafford 

House  to  lunch.  , 

In  the  evenmg  we  went  to  Lord  John  Russell's.    We  found 
Lady  RusseU  and  her  daughters  sitting  quietly  around  the 
evening  lamp,  quite  by  themselves.     She  is  elegant  and  m- 
teresting   in  her    personal   appearance,  and  ha.  the   same 
eharm  of  simplicity  and  smeerity  of  manner  which  we  have 
found  in  so  many  of  the  upper  sphere.     She  rs  the  daugh^r 
of  the  Earl  of  Minto,  and  the  second  wife  of  Lord  John 
We  passed  here  an  entirely  quiet  and  domestic  evenmg,  with 
only  the  family  circle.     The  conversation  turned  on  various 
topL  of  practical  benevolence,  connected  with  ^e  care  and 
education  of  the  poorer  classes.     Allusion  bemg  made  to  Mrs 
Tyler's  letter.  Lady  Russell  expressed  some  concern  lest    he 
si;cere  and  well-intended  expression  of  the  feeling  of  the 
EngUsh  ladies  might  have  done  harm.    I  said  that  I  did  not 
think  the  spirit  of  Mrs.  Tyler's  letter  was  to  be  taken  as  rep- 
resenting the  feeling  of  American  ladies  generally,  -  only  ot 
VOL.  I.  28 


326       SUNNY  MEMORIES  OF  FOREIGN  LANDS. 

that  class  who%are  determined  to  maintain  the  rightfuhiess  of 
slavery. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  better  and  more  tliinking  part  of 
the  higher  classes  in  England  have  conscientiously  accepted 
the  responsibility  which  the  world  has  charged  upon  them  of 
elevating  and  educating  the  poorer  classes.  In  every  circle 
since  I  have  been  here  in  England,  I  have  heard  the  subject 
discussed  as  one  of  paramount  importance. 

One  or  two  young  gentlemen  dropped  in  in  the  course  of 
the  evening,  and  the  discourse  branched  out  on  the  various 
topics  of  the  day ;  such  as  the  weather,  literature,  art,  spirit- 
ual rappings,  and  table  turnings,  and  all  the  floating  et  cete- 
ras  of  life.  Lady  Russell  apologized  for  the  absence  of  Lord 
John  in  Parliament,  and  invited  us  to  dine  with  them  at  their 
residence  in  Richmond  Park  next  week,  when  there  is  to  be 
a  parliamentary  recess. 

We  left  about  ten  o'clock,  and  went  to  pass  the  night  with 
our  friends  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cropper  at  their  hotel,  being  en- 
gaged to  breakfast  at  the  West  End  in  the  morning. 


END    OF   VOLUME   I. 


xo 


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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

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